The Real Fight
by youngstoryteller.007
Summary: It's post World War Three in America. And Anna and her brother Josh are plotting to take over the evil new leaders of the world fifteen years after the war ended. Along the way they meet Britt, Skylar, another Anna, and Ester to help them overthrow the government. Sendrick and Castin endgame
1. Chapter 1

Prologue: The War

The day started like any other. It was summer, and families were going on vacation and spending time in the hot summer's day. Anna was only five years old at the time, and she was at the beach near her family's house just outside of Portland, Maine. And while the little five year-old girl didn't know it, the whole world was falling as she played in the sand.

A group of radicals called the Freedom Healers were trying to overthrow the government. What had started off as an occasional skirmish quickly turned into numerous incidents between the Freedom Healers and the government had occurred. The country was split in two, those who supported the government and those who sided with the radicals. On top of that, relations with other countries had also been going south, meaning that the United States was facing both a civil war and an international war. Luckily, the fighting hadn't made its way to Maine yet, and little Anna was too innocent to understand the war at the time.

Her older brother and her father were keeping close watch on her as she built a sand castle in the sand. "Look Daddy!" Young Anna said, pointing her little sand castle. "Look at my sand castle!"

"It's very sweet darling." Her father, James said with a smile on his face. "You're quite the artist."

Anna giggled, beaming at her father's compliment before continuing to make her sand castle. The biggest worry for the little girl was making sure that her castle was perfect, but the rest of her family was worrying about how long they'd be able to make it before the war finally reached them.

James had seen the reports on the news, the videos of people fighting in the streets, explosions bringing down entire buildings, fires raging on and on for days on end. He did his best to keep his daughter away from the television, only allowing her to watch the morning cartoons before shutting it off. He feared that if she saw anything of what was happening outside of Maine, that she would be scarred for life.

There was a part of Anna that could tell something was up with her father, he always seems worried about something. And her older brother Josh, who was ten at the time, knew what was going on because he would sneak a peek through his parents bedroom to watch the news every night.

"Josh! Come and play with me!" Anna called out to her older brother.

Josh looked and saw that Anna was running around, kicking up water with her feet. He smiled; his sister seemed to be the only thing that made him smile ever since the war started. "Okay, I'll come play with you," he said, standing up and walking towards his sister, who smiled brightly at him.

"Come and catch me!" Anna yelled out, running away from her brother through the shallow water while she giggled playfully. Her brother smiled and ran after her, pretending to be a monster.

"You better run Anna," Josh called after her with a smile on his face as his little sister squealed and ran away. Josh ran slower than he actually could to give his younger sister enough time to get a good lead, then he would start actually running so that she would laugh and run away as fast as she could.

Eventually, the young girl got tired, so she slowed down and caught her breath. She turned around and there was Josh, who grabbed her and spun her around in the air. "Hey! Put me down!"

Josh chuckled, and after spinning her around a couple times, he set his little sister down on the ground.

After they spent some more time on the beach, Anna, Josh and their father headed back to their house, which was no more than a ten minute walk from the beach. There they found Anna's mother, just getting home from work. Anna's mother Joan worked for the FBI as a DNA Analyst, and Anna had always looked up to her.

When Anna saw her mother get out of the car, she ran up and jumped in her mother's arms. "Mama! I built a sandcastle today!" She said excitedly.

"You did? Was it a good sand castle?" Joan asked her daughter, who nodded her head up and down. "Well, I'm glad that it was a good sand castle. Let's go inside and you can tell me all about it," she said, carrying little Anna inside the house while James and Josh followed behind her.

Once Anna had finished rambled on about her sand castle, Joan told her to go get changed and ready for dinner. She then pulled James aside, making sure they were alone so she could tell him what had happened at work that day. "It wasn't good James, I overheard my boss talking about the violence. It's spread up north through Mexico and just reached the border between Florida and Georgia. People around the country have been told to evacuate their homes. He said he suspects that it'll spread up here by the end of the week." She said somberly.

James sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. "What are we going to do, Joan?" He asked. "If we try to leave, we'll certainly have to go through some states that have already been affected, but it's not safe to stay here. What are we supposed to do?"

"What choice do we have, James? we have to save our children, get them out of here before any harm comes to them." Joan stated with a sigh. "We need to send them up north to Canada to stay with their Aunt Terry and Uncle Greg until the violence stops."

"How are we going to get them up there? Surely the border will be closed if the violence continues. We're trapped here, Joan. We're trapped and there's no way out," James said, his voice threatening to crack with emotion.

"If we keep the kids here, the radicals are going to take both Anna and Josh away from us, James. We have to get them out of here, even if it means having to sneak them out illegally." Joan stated, trying her best not to cry. "I'd rather try and save our kids than do nothing at all. And I think you would too." She stated.

James paused, regaining his composure before speaking again. "You're right. We have to do something. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if they took Anna and Josh," he said, looking at his wife. "We have to leave. Soon."

"I'll send word to Terry and Greg, they'll make time to come for our babies once we get them to the northern border." Joan said, tucking her hair back behind her ear. She then broke down and let a few tears fall. "We may never see our babies again, but we can't tell them that. They can't know that we may be taken into camps or on the run. We have to tell them that we're coming up later, otherwise they won't want to go."

"I think that Anna will take it better than Josh. She's a smart kid, but we've been keeping her away from the news, so she doesn't really know everything that's going on. Josh on the other hand, he might be less understanding," James said, "But no matter what, we have to get them out of here. I'll do whatever it takes so that they're safe."

"My boss said this is going to be 'the war to end all wars.'That it may end in most of the world's population dying. World War 3, that what he said. Do you think we'll ever see our babies after this?" Joan asked, looking down at the floor.

"We will see them again. We have to believe that. While we may be apart from them for some time, we will see them again," James said, opening his arms and embracing his wife tightly.

Later that week, Joan and James sat Anna and Josh down to have a talk about what was going to happen. Anna sat next to her older brother on the couch. Then their mom and dad sat with them, putting Anna and Josh in the middle. "What going on Mama?" Anna asked with a five year old's adorable curiosity.

James and Joan looked at each other nervously. "Your mother and I have decided that you two are going to stay with your Aunt Terry and Uncle Greg for a while," James said slowly, waiting to see how the kids would react.

"Why?" Anna asked, looking at her mother in a confused way.

"Well, your dad and I have some out of town business to attend to, and Aunt Terry said she and Uncle Greg would be happy to let you guys stay there." Joan stated. This wasn't the complete truth, but it also wasn't a complete lie either.

"Why can't we go with you guys?" Josh asked.

"We're going to be attending a lot of meetings, so that wouldn't be fun for you. Plus, there wouldn't be anyone to watch you while we're busy. It's for the best that you go to stay with your aunt and uncle," James replied, "Besides, you guys will have a great time with them!"

Josh knew the real reason as to why his parents were sending them up to live in Canada with their aunt and uncle. He knew his parents were going to get them out of the country before the war got to their doorstep. The young boy looked at his little sister and then back at his parents. At first he was angry, but then he realized they were doing this to keep Anna and him safe. "When are we leaving?" He asked.

"We're heading up to the border a little after sunset." James informed. "Hopefully we won't be gone too long, and you can come back home." He said, kissing the top of his little girl's head. "Now, it's time to get ready to leave. Go get some warm clothes on. It's going to be cold once the sun sets."

"Come on Anna, I'll help you pack up," Josh said, taking his little sister's hand as the two walked up the stairs to their rooms, which they would soon be leaving behind, along with the rest of their life as they knew it.

Anna was silent as she got ready to go. She still didn't understand why they were going, but it didn't matter. "Josh, why are we really going to see Aunt Terry and Uncle Greg?"

Uhhh," Josh said, trying to think of something plausible. He didn't want to scare Anna but he didn't want to lie to his five year old sister. "Well, our parents want us to be safe from some bad guys." He said.

Anna gasped. "Bad guys? What kind of bad guys? Are they gonna hurt us? Are they gonna hurt Mama and Daddy?" She asked worriedly, her thoughts racing around in her head.

"I hope they don't. We're going to be safe for a while with Aunt Terry and Uncle Greg though. And maybe Mom and Dad will join us in a little while." Josh said, trying to keep Anna calm.

"Why are there bad guys anyways?" The little girl asked. "And why are they bad?"

Josh hesitated, trying to figure out how to answer his sister's question without scaring her. "I don't know why there are bad guys, Anna. We just have to trust Mom and Dad when they say we'll be safer with Aunt Terry and Uncle Greg," Josh answered, "I promise that I'm not gonna let anything happen to you."

"Are you going to be my knight who protects me?" Anna asked sweetly, and Josh couldn't help but smile at this.

"Yes," He said, rubbing the top of her head. "I'm going to protect you Anna, I'll be your knight. And I'll train you to be the best knight there ever was." Josh smiled gave his little sister a hug. "Now get dressed into something warm, the sun is setting soon and Mom and Dad want us in the car by sun down."

The whole family got dressed and packed a couple things that they would need, like water and snacks, before they all got in the car and began to head towards the northern border. Anna's face was pressed against the window of the car as they drove away, leaving their house in the dust.

James drove with caution, making sure to watch for patrolmen that may be guarding the roads to the northern border crossing. He held his wife's hand while the other steered their car. The two kids were quiet in the back, Anna was busy looking out the window at the night sky. Josh was watching his parents hands, something felt off. He knew that this was the last time he would see his parents in a while, and that was for one reason. Because of the war.

They drove around two hours before reaching the border, little Anna had fallen asleep and Josh was making sure they had even enough snacks to get to their aunt and uncle's house. The car slowed down to a stop, and James slowly got out, checking their surroundings for any guards.

"There's no guards around here. But Terry and Greg aren't here either," He said to Joan, "They said they would meet us here."

Joan bit her lip nervously, wondering where they could've been. "We can't stay here long James." She answered. "Just because there aren't any guards her now doesn't mean that there won't be in about five minutes." She got out and then walked to the trunk. "We have to send them up by themselves, otherwise we'll all get caught and they'll take Josh and Anna. Josh has a GPS from his scouts, he knows the way."

James hesitated, looking to Josh and Anna, who were still in the backseat of the car, and then back to Joan. "I don't like this plan, but it's the only one we've got," he said. He went to the car and opened up the rear passenger side door. "Come on, you two," he said, taking Anna's hand and helping her out of the car.

"Where's Aunt Terry and Uncle Greg?" Anna asked innocently.

Joan looked at James, who seemed troubled on how to answer their daughter's question. They knew that the reason the Terry and Greg hadn't met them was because they had been captured by the radicals. "Well, they are just running late. Which means you two are going to meet them."

"Are you coming with Josh and me?" Anna asked with the same innocent voice, which made James' throat grow a lump.

"No, sweetie, we can't come with you and your brother," Joan said, tears welling up in her eyes. "Aunt Terry and Uncle Greg don't have enough room for me and your father, so you two are going to have to go alone. Josh will make sure you get there, right Josh?"

Josh teared up but nodded quickly. "Yes, I will."

"Good man," Joan said, walking up to her son and getting down on her knees. "You take care of her," she whispered. "You hear me, take care of Anna. She doesn't understand, and you're her guardian now." She said, because she knew Josh understood what was going on.

"When will I see you again?" Josh asked, choked up on tears.

"I don't know, son, but I promise you that you will see us again. You will see us again," James said, putting a hand on Josh's shoulder. "Now your job is to make sure that you and your sister get to Aunt Terry and Uncle Greg."

Josh hugged his mom tightly while James got down to Anna's level. "Will you listen your brother? He's going to get you to Aunt Terry and Uncle Greg."

"I will, Daddy," Anna said before hugging her father tightly. "I love you, Daddy," she whispered, her little voice cracking as she started crying. Anna had never enjoyed being away from her family. Her parents were her favorite people on earth, and they had always been there for her.

James hugged his daughter, a few tears falling down his face as well. "Alright, now you and your brother better get going. Aunt Terry and Uncle Greg are waiting for you," He said, standing up and wiping away his tears. "Josh, do you have the water and the snacks?"

Josh nodded. "I've got the water and the snacks in my backpack," he replied.

The family shared a group hug before James heard a car coming up, knowing it was the guards. "You guys need to get going. Go!" He said, putting Anna's backpack on before lifting her up over the wall as Josh climbed.

"I love you two, now start walking and don't look back." Joan called after her kids. Anna caught one more glimpse of her mom and dad before they got in the car and drove the other way.

Josh took her hand. "Come on Anna, let's go." The five year old linked her fingers in her older brothers.

"We aren't going to see mom and dad for a long time, are we?" She asked.

"I don't know, Anna. I hope that we see them soon, but I'm not sure if we will," Josh replied as they continued walking. It had gotten considerably darker, so it was harder for them to see where they were going. "Stay with me, Anna. I'll make sure we get to Aunt Terry and Uncle Greg."

Anna looked back toward where they came but it was completely dark. They walked through the woods and stayed cautious. Anna held her brother's arm as they made their way up through the forest. "How much longer Josh?" Anna asked.

"I don't know, probably not much further." Josh said, squeezing his little sister's hand to assure her that they would get there soon.

"Okay," Anna said, remembering what her father had said about listening to Josh They kept walking, but it seemed like they weren't getting any closer to wherever they were going.

Suddenly, there were bright lights ahead of them. Anna held her hand up in front of her face, shielding her eyes from the light. "Josh, what are those lights for?"

"I don't know, usually Aunt Terry and Uncle Greg don't keep the bright lights on." Josh said, pulling Anna closer to his side. He then saw a bunch of trucks outside. There were men in black uniforms, pulling Terry and Greg into the back of one of the trucks.

"Anna, get down." Josh whispered. Anna listened to her brother and crouched low beneath the pine bushes.

"Josh, why are we hiding? And why did those guys with the black clothes push Aunt Terry and Uncle Greg into the truck? Josh, I'm really scared," Anna said, clutching onto her brother's arm.

"Shhh, shh." Josh said, calming his sister. "I don't know Anna, just try and be very still." He whispered, holding his shaking sister. Once the trucks turned on and left, and Josh was sure everyone was away he took Anna's hand and they ran towards the back door of their aunt and uncle's cabin. "We're going to stay here for the night okay? We will stay in whatever room we want." Anna nodded, following Josh into the house once he got the back door open.

When they walked in, both of the children gasped. The house had been completely ransacked: windows were broken, furniture had been broken, pots and pans and plates had been tossed around. "Did the guys in the black clothes do this?" Anna asked.

Josh continued to look around the room, then nodded sadly. "The guys in the black clothes must have done this."

"Are they going to come for us Josh? Did they get Mama and Daddy?" Anna said, tearing up.

The young boy walked over to his sister. "I don't know, but we are going to be okay. I promise you I will protect you. I'm your knight, and I'm going to train you, remember?" He said, trying to cheer Anna up.

A small smile appeared on Anna's face. "Yeah, I remember," the little girl said. "When am I gonna get to start my training?" She asked eagerly.

Josh smiled and tucked her hair back. He knew martial arts and his father had taught him how to shoot a bow and a gun. "I'll teach you whenever you want to start learning."

"Let's start now!" Anna said in an excited tone.

"Let's get some rest, but we will begin tomorrow." Josh said.

Anna smiled and went to bed so the day would come quicker. "Will you stay with me Josh?"

Josh, who had been walking out of Anna's new room so that he could look for another mattress, turned around. "Of course. I'm just gonna go look for a new mattress, but I'll be right back after that. I promise," He said to his younger sister.

"Stay with me, in the bed. Mama would used to do that before I went to bed. You can get one once I fall asleep." Anna said. She was a sweet and smart little girl, and while at some moments she annoyed her brother, he couldn't help but love her.

"Alright Anna," he said with a smile before climbing into the bed, chuckling when his sisters little body moved over and held onto him.

"Good night Josh," she whispered in a sweet and gentle voice. "I love you big brother."

Josh smiled. "Good night, Anna. I love you too, little sister," He whispered in her ear.

The next day, like he had promised, Josh began to train Anna on how to become a knight. "Alright. I can teach you a lot of things, so is there anything that you want to learn first?" Josh said.

"Ooh! Can you show me your karate?" Anna asked excitedly.

"Sure thing." Josh said with a smile. They then began training, day and night, preparing for the war. And hopefully, when the time came, they would be prepared to find a way back to their parents **.**

 **hey! We hope you enjoyed it! We wanted to do a Sendrick story! Tell us what you thought!**

 **until next time,**

 **elle and gabi**


	2. Chapter 1: 17 Years Later

**Hey Guys! Here is the next part of The Real Fight, we hope you enjoy it, many characters will be introduced in this chapter! We hope that you enjoy it!  
**

 **Sincerely,**

 **Elle and Gabi.**

Chapter 1: 17 Years Later

Since that day, 17 years had passed, and the Freedom Healers had succeeded in overthrowing the government. It hadn't been an easy task; it actually took them almost four years before they had completely taken over, but the violence never relented. While the radicals had been attacking, Anna and Josh had continued training, preparing for the day that they might be able to stop the Freedom Healers once and for all.

Currently, Josh and Anna were staking out a convoy of trucks who had been wreaking havoc all over what used to be the east coast of the United States. Some villages and towns had managed to survive the war, but the Freedom Healers were determined to extinguish any wisps of rebellion, no matter the cost.

The rumbling of the trucks was loud enough to be heard from a mile away, giving Anna enough time to find a good hiding spot way up in a tree. The brunette took her time as she climbed up the old oak, then she sat down on one of the more sturdy branches, making sure that she was obscured just enough by the leaves so that she wouldn't be spotted.

Minutes after she had climbed up the tree, the trucks came into sight. There were three total, and all of them looked the same: all black except for the white Freedom Healer logo, a fist with a flame around it. The trucks slowed down to a stop at an empty clearing, and then one by one, the driver of each truck got out. Anna leaned forward, trying to hear what they were saying, but she was just out of earshot.

The men still wore their signature black uniforms, and looked evil as ever. World War III had left the world under the rule of the Freedom Healers, and it had been left in ruins. Every building that had taken a hit hadn't been fixed. It was like they were living in some sort of violent video game that lasted forever.

Josh was also in a tree, although he was on the other side of the clearing. He was also closer to the clearing, so he was actually able to hear what the men were saying.

"Find whatever you can that's valuable, Francis wants it all as long as it has value." One of the men said, sending the group of men off towards the houses of the people who lived in the small town. Little did those soldiers know that Anna and Josh had warned them of the incoming attack days in advance, and that they would be ambushed by the townspeople as soon as they stepped foot inside the town.

The Freedom Healers were lead by Heinrich Francis, an extreme dictator and an absolute psychopath. The people who survived the initial waves of the war were terrified of him. He preyed off of fear, and that's why his rise to power was uncontested. As far as Anna knew, she and Josh were the only people willing to take Francis down.

Josh listened in some more to what the leftover men standing by the truck were saying. He looked across the clearing and spotted his sister, who was looking straight at him. He held up a finger, signaling that he wanted to wait some more before they did anything.

The men who were left to guard the trucks continued to talk, oblivious to Josh and Anna, who were now climbing down their respective trees and slowly making their way over to the clearing. Anna ducked behind the nearest truck, as did Josh. The brunette made eye contact with her older brother, and then nodded. "Let's do this," she mouthed to him.

Josh nodded and then broke one of the locks on the back of the truck, smirking at how easily it unlocked. He climbed in through the back, and snuck up behind the driver. He then covered the guys mouth with a rag. "Here's how it's going to go, you're going to sit quietly while I tell you where to drive your truck."

The man tried to fight back but couldn't do anything because Josh was too strong. "No screaming, or struggling. It will only make things worse." He hissed into the driver's ear.

While that was going on, Anna slashed the tires of the other two trucks, making sure that they wouldn't be going anywhere. She put her hunting knife back into its sheath, taking out her pistol instead. She crawled over to the passenger side door, and then stood up, holding her pistol out in front of her. "Surprise," she said, causing the driver to jump.

"Who are you?" He asked, reaching for the gun in his pocket.

Anna aimed for his hand. "I wouldn't do that if I were you," she warned, opening the door and sitting in the passenger's seat. "Now here's what you're going to do. I'm not going to make you drive this truck anywhere, because I already slashed the tires. Instead, I want you to give me information."

"I'm not going to tell you anything." The man spat, venom in his voice

Anna chuckled, shaking her head. "Your bravery isn't going to get you anywhere at this point. Because if you try to reach for a weapon, I'm gonna shoot you. If you try to attack me, I'm going to shoot you. If you try to escape, I'm going to shoot you, and if you don't give me any information, you can guess what I'm going to do."

"You're going to shoot me," the driver deadpanned.

"Exactly," Anna replied with a smirk, "So tell me, where is Francis going next, and when? Rumor has it that some sort of trade is going down with England."

"How the hell am I supposed to know that? I'm just a driver. He gives me a set of coordinates to go to, and I go there. I don't get any other information," the man replied.

"Well, you must know when he is having you drive to the border." Anna could tell he wasn't telling the whole truth. "Tell me the coordinates of where he's going to go," the brunette demanded for a second time.

"There's a map in the glove box. The locations I'm supposed to go to are marked with red dots. The coordinates are written beside them." Keeping her eyes on the man, Anna reached for the glove box and opened it, finding the map and unfolding it.

"What locations have you already hit?" She asked, showing the map to him.

"I don't know. You can tell me. After all, I know you've been tracking me for quite some time. We're not that naive," the man said with a smirk. After he finished his sentence, Anna brought her fist up and punched him in the jaw.

"Listen here, buddy. I don't need to put up with this crap. Answer the goddamn question," Anna said sternly.

"Alright, alright!" He said, wincing in pain. "We've hit New York City, Cincinnati, Nashville, and Myrtle Beach." He grabbed his jaw. "He'll be getting the shipments in from England on Saturday at 5:00 p.m in Tampa."

Anna checked the map, seeing the red mark on the city of Tampa. It was labeled "England Shipment." The brunette nodded with satisfaction and then folded up the map, stuffing it inside her backpack.

"You're going to keep quiet about this. I was never here, you got that?" Anna said. When the man didn't say anything she glared at him. "You got it?" She said again, pointing the pistol at him.

"I got it," he mumbled under his breath.

"Good," Anna said, opening the door and getting out of the truck. She then stopped. Turning around, she said "And I will find out if you ever tell anyone about this. And if I find out that you did, you're a dead man." She slammed the truck's door shut, glaring at the driver one last time before going over to the truck Josh was in.

Once Anna had gotten into the truck Josh told the driver to go. "Where's the next shipment coming from?" He asked.

"Tampa, so we have quite the drive. It's happening on Saturday at 5:00 p.m before dark." Anna stated. She held onto a pole as Josh gave instructions to the driver, who begrudgingly complied.

About ten minutes into the drive away from the town, Josh spotted something curious. "Anna, look over there," Josh said, pointing to two figures who were standing on the side of the road. Anna squinted to get a better look at them: one of them was wearing a guard's uniform and was practically holding the other, who was clutching at their leg.

"That one has a guard's uniform. This might be a trap," Anna said warily.

"But we can't drive by without seeing if we can help," Josh said to his sister. To the driver, he said "Pull over. Now."

The driver did as Josh asked and pulled over to the side of the road, stopping in front of the people. Josh and Anna exchanged a look before Anna spoke up. "Are you two with them?" Anna asked, "them" being the radicals.

"No, we just escaped an internment camp." The guy said, helping the woman walk since she was limping. "We need shelter." He said.

"Get in," Anna said. She helped the two into the truck. "I'm Anna Kendrick, this is my brother Josh."

"I'm Skylar, this is Anna as well, she's goes by Ragsdale." He said.

"Nice to meet you both," Anna stated. "We're going down to Tampa, so we have quite a drive ahead of us. Feel free to make yourselves comfortable."

"Thanks," Skylar said, helping Ragsdale prop up her injured leg.

A few hours into the drive, they dropped off the driver at an abandoned rest stop, then drove to a gas station and filled up the tank before continuing on. "How did you guys get away from the camp?" Josh asked as he drove.

"I stole an officer's uniform, and was pretending to take her to the infirmary, but instead we snuck out the back." Skylar stated, wrapping Ragsdale's leg with some bandages. "We've been traveling for two days and her leg has been getting worse."

"Do we have a med kit with us, Josh?" Anna asked.

"No, I don't think so. You can check in my backpack, though," He answered.

Anna checked his backpack, and after finding nothing, she decided to search the rest of the truck. After searching for about five or minutes she found one and handed it over to Skylar. "Here, use this." She said, handing Skylar some gauze, pre-wrap, and tape.

"Thank you," Skylar said, grabbing the supplies from Anna's hands and applying it to the blonde woman's leg.

"How long have you two been out on the run? Did you escape from some camp?" Ragsdale asked.

"No, uh, we didn't escape from a camp," Josh answered. "We've been on the run for a long, long time. Ever since I was ten years old, and Anna was five." Anna nodded somberly, memories of the last 17 years flooding into her mind. "We've survived this long, though, and we're not planning on giving up. Not yet."

"You've been on the run for 17 years?" Ragsdale asked, obviously shocked. "That's insane."

"It hasn't been the funnest of times thats for sure." Anna stated. "I don't even remember what the world was like before the war."

"What happened to your parents?" Skylar asked.

Josh and Anna shared a look of despair before Josh turned back to keep his eyes on the road. "Right before the war started, our parents took us up to the Maine/ Canada border and dropped us off. We were supposed to meet our aunt and uncle at their cabin, but the Freedom Healers captured them as we got there so we hid in the woods."

"We have reason to believe they were taken with our aunt and uncle to some camp." Josh said. "We haven't seen or heard from them since that day."

"Wow," Skylar said, "It seems like you two have been through a lot."

"From the looks of you and Dale, it seems like you two have been through a lot as well," Anna said. "What was it like when you were in the camp? I mean, you don't have to answer if you don't want to. Obviously it was a terrible experience. I have just always wondered what it was like to be in one of the camps."

"Well, if you've ever read up on World War 2, it was like that." Ragsdale said. "However, unlike that, they didn't care about your race or religion. As long as you have openly disagreed with their way of life, they take you there."

"I was there for two and a half years." Skylar admitted.

"I got there right after him." Ragsdale added.

"Shit," Anna stated. She looked down. "I guess my brother and I have been really lucky to not have been caught by them considering some of the things we've done to try and take them down."

Both Skylar and Ragsdale looked at Anna curiously. "What do you mean by that? Do you mean that you guys have actually been trying to fight back against them?" Skylar asked in disbelief.

Josh nodded. "Something like that. We've been trying to eliminate the radicals' incoming resources from other countries. We can't take on all their soldiers, but if we take out their resources, then they're toast."

"That's why we're going to Tampa, actually. There's supposed to be a big shipment coming in from England, and we're going to try and stop the Freedom Healers from getting their precious resources," Anna said, finishing Josh's thought.

"So you're the ones who stopped the cargo ships coming in from Africa? That was on the news." Ragsdale said, gasping a little bit from the pain in her leg.

"That was us. And we just stopped them from robbing a small town." Josh stated.

"Well, thank you for everything that you've done, we appreciate it." Skylar said.

That night they found a spot thick within the woods to sleep. The truck had sleeping bags for all of them to use. "Alright, Dale you just rest tonight." Anna stated. "You're leg needs to not move for a while otherwise it'll get worse. But I think we should all switch off on watch tonight."

Both Josh and Skylar nodded in agreement. "I'll take the first watch," Skylar volunteered.

"Alright. Anna, you can take the second watch, and I'll take third. If we need to, we can keep rotating in that order," Josh said, tossing a sleeping bag to Anna.

They both rolled out their sleeping bags and laid them in the bed of the truck. While they were very deep in the forest, the trees still didn't completely block out the sky, meaning they could look up and watch the stars. "I remember when we used to do this, before everything went to shit," Anna mumbled softly .

"Yeah, when Mom and Dad would take us camping and point out all the different constellations in the sky." Josh said, smiling up at the stars.

"I know that they're most likely dead, but there's a small part of me that wonders if they're out there somewhere, looking for us." Anna whispered, laying down on the rough bed floor.

"We're going to find them, Anna. We have to. They'd do the same for us," Josh said, sighing and continuing to gaze up at the sky. "I just hope that we find them soon, because our luck is going to run out eventually."

A couple hours passed, and Anna was woken up by Skylar, who told her that it was her turn to take watch. The brunette yawned a little and rubbed her eyes before going around to the front of the truck, doing her best to stay awake and keep an eye out for any trouble.

About an hour into her watch, Anna heard a twig snapping close by. She held up her hunting knife which she had been carrying around since she was seven years old. The young woman listened closely try and hear if there was another sound. Anna stood up and headed towards where the sound had come from. The brunette looked at her surroundings, noting that it had become oddly silent all of a sudden.

That's when a blonde girl jumped out from the bushes and pinned Anna to the ground. "What the fu-" Anna grunted, the weight of the girl landing on her causing her to lose her breath. Anna had dropped her knife, and she desperately tried to reach for it, but it was too far away. As she struggled underneath the girl, Anna remembered some of Josh's training from all those years ago.

The brunette kicked at the blonde's shin, causing her to wince in pain. This gave Anna enough time to push the girl off of her and regain her footing. She rummaged through the leaves, but couldn't find her knife. Turning around, she only had a second or two to react before the blonde tackled her to the ground once again.

Once the blonde girl had Anna pinned to the ground, she held a knife to her throat. "Who the hell are you? And why are you here?" She said, standing her ground, keeping Anna pinned.

"Who am I? Who the fuck are you? Get off me!" Anna said, struggling to get out of the blonde girl's hold.

"Why are you driving one of those trucks? They belong to the Freedom Healers!" The girl whisper yelled. "Do you work for them?" Anna honestly was in shock at how strong this girl was. It may be dark, but the sky was lit enough by the full moon to show the definition in the girls biceps. "Answer me!"

Anna laughed until the girl pressed the knife onto her throat even more, the point of the blade dangerously close to piercing her skin. "Do you really think I'm with the Freedom Healers? Think about it for a second. If I was, you'd already be dead," the brunette answered. "Now that you know that I'm not one of them, can you please get off me and stop crushing my lungs?" She asked.

"You'd be surprised at how many Freedom Healers I've killed in one day." The girl said, releasing her grip enough to let Anna sit up; she still kept her eyes on the brunette.

That was when Josh and Skylar ran out to see what the commotion was. "Hey, is everything alright?" Josh asked.

Brittany looked over her shoulder at the two figures who emerged from the darkness. "Who are you people? Why are you here?"

"We're rebels, we've been trying to overthrow our new 'leaders.'" Anna stated, catching her breath once the blonde let her go from her grip.

"We've been tracking down the different cargo shipments coming in from other countries and making sure that the Freedom Healers never get the resources. We recently stopped the cargo ships coming in from Africa by completely shutting down the port in Dover, Delaware," Josh clarified for the blonde.

The blonde put her knife away, and wiped the hair away from her face. She was absolutely breathtaking, and from what the three others could see in the night, the most gorgeous eyes in the history of humans.

"I'm Brittany," she announced. "But my family used to call me Britt all the time."

"What do you want? A trophy for having a nickname?" Anna muttered under her breath, still a little shaken up from what had happened a couple minutes ago.

"Don't listen to her, she's just in a bad mood," Josh said to Brittany. "I'm Josh, this is Skylar, and you've already met Anna."

"Yeah, I have." Brittany said, chuckling before she shook Josh's hand as well as Skylar's. She then walked over to Anna and held out her hand. "Truce?" She said, offering a friendly smile.

Anna glared at Brittany for a few moments, then rolled her eyes when Josh gave her a look. "Sure, as long as you don't try to kill me again," Anna said, shaking Brittany's hand.

"So, Brittany, why are you all the way out here in the woods? And by yourself?" Skylar asked.

"I've been on the run for about a year and a half now. I escaped one of those awful camps." Britt stated, putting her knife in its sheath. "I'd been there for five years. And I just had to get out, I have no one left."

Skylar nodded sympathetically. "Yeah, I was in a camp too. I escaped a couple of days ago with my friend Ragsdale. Thankfully, we were only there for around two and a half years."

"Josh and I have been on the run ever since it all started," Anna said quietly. "Somehow, we never got taken to a camp. I don't know how we didn't get caught."

"Well you're lucky, it's awful." Skylar said.

"I lost my entire family there, right before my own eyes." Brittany stated. "I knew these Freedom Healers were trouble, but once they killed my family I knew I had to get out and try to stop them."

"Well then, it's a good thing that you found us, because that's what we're trying to do as well," Josh said. "At dawn, we're gonna hit the road again. We're heading down to Tampa to hopefully intercept a big cargo shipment from England. If we get this one, they'll lose at least two or three months worth of supplies."

"Which will give us the prime opportunity to take out Francis." Anna said, finishing her brother's statement. Josh and Skylar nodded.

"Can I join your team?" Brittany asked. Anna, Josh, and Skylar exchanged a few looks; Skylar and Josh seemed to be fine with Brittany joining the group. Anna on the other hand was less enthusiastic.

"Well, can you fight?" Anna asked skeptically.

"I think it was proved that she can fight." Josh said, chuckling.

Anna turned her head and glared at her brother. "I'll admit that you're decent at fighting. But are you really sure that you're willing to help us with this? It's going to be a huge undertaking. Are you really sure that you're going to be able to handle it?" The brunette asked, looking Brittany in the eyes.

"I lost my family, right before my eyes," Brittany said, walking over to Anna and looking her straight back. "You can be sure as hell I'll be ready to handle anything that comes our way." She added, noticing the reluctance in Anna's eyes.

Anna looked to Skylar and Josh, slowly nodding her head. She looked back to Brittany. "Well, we could always use the extra help," the brunette said.

Josh smiled widely at Brittany. "Welcome aboard," he said enthusiastically, "I think you'll be a great addition to our team."

"Thank you, I look forward to helping you." Brittany added, smiling and shaking Skylar and Josh's hand again.

"You all get some rest, it's my turn to be on watch." Josh stated, shooing everyone off to go the truck.

Brittany took off her belt of weapons and placed it beside the sleeping bag she'd be using. She met Ragsdale and helped rebandage her leg. After that was done she lay down in her sleeping bag, which happened to be next to Anna's.

Anna came over and sat down next to Brittany, unfolding the map and using the moonlight to look at it. She studied it for a few minutes, looking at all the different locations and trying to find some sort of pattern among them. "It seems like they're targeting random cities. There's no pattern at all," the brunette muttered to herself.

As the young brunette continued to try and see what pattern they had, the tired but ever curious Brittany leaned over her shoulder to try and figure it out. "What cities have they not hit yet?"

"Anything west of the Mississippi River," Anna answered reluctantly. She never liked getting help, unless it was from Josh. She had grown to be just like her mother, strong, independent and stubborn. "Why do you ask?"

"It's just, well-" Brittany took a look at the map and saw places like Lincoln, Nebraska, as well as L.A, San Francisco, Seattle, they were all places that hadn't been marked yet. "I could be wrong, but those places haven't received the shipment yet. And that little incident you and your brother caused, that's why they haven't marked marked off Dover. That was the place the Africa shipment came in from right?"

Anna nodded. "Yeah, Dover was where the Freedom Healers were supposed to get shipments of gold, silver, iron, and other metals like those. We ended up sinking the boats right as they entered the harbor, and the Freedom Healers didn't bother sending a dive team to retrieve any of the resources," she replied, still not understanding the point Brittany was trying to make.

"I guess what I'm saying is, those cities that aren't marked, they are all going to be getting shipments. So after Tampa, those are our next stops. We just have to find out when each one of those cities is getting the load." Brittany stated, noticing Anna's seemingly condescending look. "I'm not saying I'm right, I'm just saying it could be a possibility. I'm going to get some sleep, I'm tired from kicking your ass earlier." She said with a smug smile on her face before climbing into her sleeping bag. Anna rolled her eyes at Brittany's last comment, looking at the map for a little while longer before she also decided to get some rest.

At dawn the next morning, Anna and Josh were the first ones to wake up, and they began packing up their stuff so they could get on the road as soon as possible. "We're still hours away from Tampa. Are you sure that we'll make it on time?" Anna asked her brother.

"Well, we're somewhere near Greenville, South Carolina. It's Wednesday, and down to Tampa should only be around a 9 hour drive. So the good news is we'll get down there, stop the incoming shipment, and be one step closer to taking down Heinrick Francis. The modern world version of Adolf Hitler." He said, packing up the sleeping bags into the back of the truck. "Now, go wake up Skylar, Ragsdale and Brittany."

"Can't we just leave Brittany?" Anna grumbled, not excited for the girl to be traveling with them.

"Just because she kicked your ass yesterday doesn't mean we're leaving her behind. I know you might not like it, but she's a good fighter, and with Ragsdale injured, we need all the help we can get. You're just going to have to bear with it, Anna. It's for the good of the group," Josh told her.

"Fine, but I'm only putting up with her for you. If she pulls any stunts, she's out," Anna replied, looking down at the ground.

"Agreed," Josh stated, patting his little sister on the back. "Now, wake them up, we're wasting daylight."

"Alright everyone, rise and shine! It's time to get up and get going on the road. We have a long nine hour drive ahead of us today, so let's get cracking!" She said, being sarcastically enthusiastic.

Skylar woke up and checked out Ragsdale's leg while Britt made a nice comfortable place for Ragsdale to sit so she could keep her leg elevated. "It looks like we'll be driving down the old I-75 highway, who wants to take a bet on how many potholes we hit on this motherfucker?" Josh called out with a laugh.

I-75 was where the Freedom Healers took out the government in one final battle. Either side had been on different sides of each road, and many bombs and missiles were shot, they nearly destroyed the entire interstate. Needless to say, everyone's jaws dropped when they reached I-75. Chunks of the highway were missing everywhere, and there were still tanks and other military vehicles scattered around the remaining parts of the highway.

"Be careful where you drive, Josh. This whole highway could collapse at any second, and we'll all be dead," Anna warned as her brother started navigating through the parts of the highway that were somehow still standing. Brittany however, wasn't as surprised at the condition of the road. She just looked at the old, rustic tanks that had never been moved since the day the war ended, thirteen years ago.

The stretch of road where the battle took place was scattered along the highway, and ended once they hit the southern border of Georgia, several hours later. They stopped for gas in what was left of the city Atlanta. Brittany looked around her, seeing this reminded her of the fact she was close to Tampa, she was close to home.

Josh instructed Skylar to fill up the tank and then check on Ragsdale's wounds. He and Anna were going to look around the gas station and see if they could find anything valuable. The windows of the gas station were boarded up, which didn't look promising, but they knew that anything they could find would be useful.

Both Josh and Anna took out their pistols before kicking the doors of the gas station open. Holding up her pistol, Anna cautiously walked inside. Broken glass was all over the floor and it crunched underneath her foot each time she took a step. "It's all clear," she called out to Josh.

"Geez, how long has this place been closed up? It's all dusty and torn up in here. It just shows how the Freedom Healers don't really care to pick up the ruins they left behind from the war." Josh mentioned. He then saw a rack of some old T-shirts and jackets. "Let's grab some clothes for everyone, we'll have to changed out of these clothes at some point."

Anna and Josh both grabbed some of the shirts and jackets, continuing to look through the gas station. There was nothing else there, however, so they decided to get back on the road. Skylar had volunteered to drive next, so Josh and Anna hopped into the bed of the truck since Brittany was in the passenger seat and Ragsdale was propping up her leg in the backseat.

Every now and then, Anna would catch a glance up towards the front of the truck through the back window, just to keep an eye on everything. Every now and then she would look at Brittany, glare and turn her attention to the world around her. "Do you trust this chick?" She asked Josh, glancing back at Brittany one more time.

Josh looked at Brittany, who was holding the map and giving directions to Skylar. "It doesn't really matter if I want to trust her. I have to. We all have to trust each other if we want to survive," Josh said to his sister. "You have to put aside your pride and trust her, even if you don't want to."

"You only trust her because you think she's really hot," Anna said, shaking her head at her older brother.

"What?! No I don't! She's pretty but I don't-" He defended, getting flustered which made Anna laugh. "Okay, okay enough. What? Like you don't think she's beautiful? Miss Lesbian." He stated, teasing his sister as it was her turn to get all red in the cheeks.

"Oh shut up," Anna muttered, punching Josh's shoulder as her face turned bright red. "You know, at least I'm willing to admit that she's attractive, unlike you," the brunette fired back with a smirk.

"Okay, I never said she wasn't pretty. I just said that's not the reason I have chosen to trust her." Josh said.

"Well it's certainly one of the reasons, so try to keep it in your pants. We're on a mission here." Anna added.

"I'll keep it in my pants, and you should do the same as well," Josh replied, smirking. This made Anna roll her eyes at her brother, but she laughed nevertheless.

Once Skylar got tired of driving, they pulled over to the side of the road so Josh could get behind the wheel once again. Anna stayed in the bed of the truck, and she groaned to herself when she saw Brittany walking to the back of the truck to join her. "Great. Just what I needed," she muttered to herself.

"You know, you're not that quiet." Brittany said as she climbed into the bed of the truck and sat down next to Beca. "I didn't want to come back here but I've been sitting up front for the last six hours and I figured someone else should get a turn. Plus, Skylar shouldn't have had to deal with you again." She stated.

"When all this shit is over, you're the person I'm going to ditch first." Anna shot back, rolling her eyes at the blonde.

"Not if I ditch you first," Brittany replied, gazing coldly at Anna.

Anna chuckled. "You know, sometimes I wonder what it was like to have known you before the war. Were you always a bitch, or are you bitchy now because you don't like me?" She asked.

"I'm just treating you the same way you're treating me." Brittany shot back. "Plus, I'm turn twenty-two in March, so I was four when the war started. Probably was a little too early to be a bitch."

"It's never to early to be a bitch." Anna stated.

"You and I are going to have quite the time together, aren't we little munchkin?" Brittany said, setting her jaw with a proud look on her face.

"Wow, you actually came up with a half-decent insult. I have to give it to you for that one. I thought blondes were too dumb for that kind of stuff," Anna replied, smirking back at Brittany with a proud look on her face as well.

"You may want to rethink that one statement, because I'm sure Ragsdale over here is blonde as well. She may take it personally." Brittany stated, smirking back at Anna. "Two can play this game sweetheart."

Anna rolled her eyes at Brittany's comeback. "You know, if you really want to be a smartass about everything, at least make sure that what you say actually is smart. Now, I'm over this conversation, so let's just sit here and try to not kill each other for the next couple of hours."

"Fine, but only if you stop constantly glancing my way like you were before, I know my beauty can be distracting." Brittany said, smirking because she knew Anna knew what she was talking about. When Anna would catch a glimpse of Brittany while she was sitting up front giving directions. This made Anna blush before she turned away, not wanting to continue the conversation any longer.

As the ride continued, Anna noticed Brittany would occasionally take out two photos. She couldn't see them, but every time the blonde girl looked at them, a sad smile appeared on her face.

"Who are the people in those pictures?" Anna asked. Brittany turned to look at her, and the brunette started to backtrack. "I mean, you don't have to tell me if you don't want to. You've just been looking at those pictures a lot. I was just wondering."

"One of them is a picture of my family. With my mom, dad, and two older brothers. And the other one is of my old girlfriend, Alice." Chloe stated strongly, biting her lip to hold back tears as she thought of the memories. "They were all killed in the camp I was at. If you must know, I look at them a lot because I miss them, and I hate our so called 'leaders.' They were the one good thing in my life; and the Freedom Healers and that asshole Francis came and killed them, like it was nothing."

"Oh," Anna said awkwardly, looking down at her feet. "I'm really sorry. I shouldn't have asked about the pictures. I didn't realize that they all―I'm really sorry, Brittany. I won't bring it up again."

"I'd appreciate that." Brittany said. "If to you I seem like a huge bitch, now you know why." She stated before the car came to a stop.

"We're here everyone!" Josh called out. Brittany got out before Anna could even reply, not wanting to talk about it anymore.

Anna hopped down from the bed of the truck and grabbed her backpack, slinging it over her shoulder. No wonder Brittany was so determined to help them defeat Francis. She had lost everything because of him. As far as Anna knew, her parents and aunt and uncle could still be alive, but Brittany had seen all her loved ones die right before her eyes. Anna felt guilt creeping up inside of her, guilt for treating Brittany the way she did, guilt for not understanding the blonde. Now that she knew the blonde's story, she knew that she had to try and be more civil. They had a job to do, and Anna couldn't let her feelings get in the way of it.

 **So it turns out Brittany has a dark past, and one of the biggest reasons to hate the Freedom Healers and Francis. Will she and Anna be able to get along, or will it just be constant bickering? Tell us what you thought!**

 **Until next time,**

 **Elle and Gabi.**


	3. Chapter 2: Tampa

Chapter 2: Tampa

The group had been in Tampa for a day now, planning on how they would fuck up the shipment that was coming in on Saturday. Anna was currently training by doing a workout at the old and abandoned recreation center that they were staying at. Brittany was practicing her knife throwing, at some dummies while Skylar was boxing a punching bag. Ragsdale and Josh were working on a plan for Saturday.

After she finished doing some pushups, Anna decided to take a quick water break before she continued her workout. She sat down on one of the wooden bleachers which had stayed intact, and she took a sip from her canteen of water. She looked over into the next room and saw Brittany working on her knife-throwing. She hadn't talked to the blonde since she had told her about what had happened at the internment camp, and she wasn't exactly sure how she would even start a conversation with her, so she kept her distance.

Brittany looked over and saw Anna looking her way. Brittany took a deep breath before returning her knife throwing. Anna watched on for a moment, the girl was really good at it. She hit the targets every single time, pretending each one she hit was one of the Freedom Healers. But whenever she aimed for the heart, she imagined Heinrick Francis, the man who had taken everything important from her.

Anna continued to watch Brittany throw the knives, astonished at how accurate her throws were. Once the brunette caught her breath, she started doing some pull-ups on the pull-up bar. Because she was so small, Anna knew that she had to make up for her size with strength. She had never been the strongest, but she had always been able to hold her own. She had to be better, though, because if she didn't get better, she would die.

"Don't act like I didn't see you ogling the newest member of our group." Josh said as he walked over to start his workout with some squats.

"I wasn't ogling, I was just really impressed with her knife throwing skills. They'll definitely come in handy when it comes time to fight the Healers." Anna said, continuing to do her pull-ups.

"Uh huh," Josh said chuckling.

"Maybe you should spend less time focusing on what I'm doing and more time on your workout. The shipment is coming in a couple of days, and we all need to be ready for it," Anna said, not missing a beat as she finished her thirtieth pull-up.

"Oh I'm focused on me, don't worry." Josh said. "I just couldn't help but notice you gazing at her every now and then. What happened yesterday?" He asked, continuing to do his squats.

Anna stopped doing pull-ups, running her fingers through her hair with a sigh. "Well, we went back and forth with insults for an hour, but then she told me about what happened when she was in the internment camp, and now I feel really bad because I've been a bitch to her and I had no idea what she went through."

"What happened to her at the camps?" Josh asked moving to do some jump-roping.

"It's not for me to tell, but let's just say she has more cause than any of us to take down the Healers, especially Heinrick." Anna stated, moving over so she wouldn't get hit by her brother while he jumped rope.

As he jumped rope, Josh watched Brittany's knife hit the target square in the chest. "Whatever happened to her is why she wanted to join us so badly. She wants to get revenge," he observed.

Anna nodded. "We all want to get revenge. I just think that she wants it more than any of us."

"She's got good skill that's for sure," Josh said. "That's something we're going to need heading forward."

"I agree, though I don't think I'm on her good side, I was pretty stupid to ask her about her time at the camps." Anna stated, getting down on the ground to do a plank. "She probably thinks I'm a cold hearted bitch for treating her the way I have. I'll bet she doesn't even trust me."

"Well, the last time we talked, you said that you didn't trust her either," Josh pointed out. "Don't worry, she'll warm up to you eventually. And maybe her telling you about the camps is a good thing. She's probably had those emotions bottled up for so long, so maybe it felt good to finally tell someone."

"Maybe," Anna said, "I just don't want our disagreements to come in the way of the mission, you know? We've made it this far, and I don't want to lose now."

"Whatever happens, we'll find a way to deal with it." Josh said, continuing to jump rope. "We've done that for the last seventeen years, and that's what we'll do with whatever comes next." He said, going a bit faster than before.

"You're right." Anna said. Josh had always been so wise, and Anna had looked up to him for as long as she could remember. He was her voice of reason, the one who kept her from doing something stupid.

They all continued to train for another hour before meeting in the lobby of the rec center. "Alright, so what's the plan for Saturday looking like? We need to be as strategic as we can if we want to have any shot at stopping the shipment," Anna stated.

"Well, the map shows that they'll be bringing the ship at Pier 15, that's where all shipments by boat came to their aid in the war." Ragsdale mentioned. "We need to find as many weapon stores around here that we can get weapons and ammunition from, and then we need to find a way onto the ship."

"Finding weapons shouldn't be a problem," Brittany mentioned.

"How come?" Anna asked.

"This is Tampa, Florida. It had a record of the most gun stores in the state of Florida." Brittany said sternly.

"How do you know that?" Skylar asked, sitting down next to Ragsdale.

"Because I grew up here," Brittany said. "The camp where I was taken," she paused for a moment, looking at Anna for a brief second. "It's not that far outside of town." She said, looking down.

"Josh says their ships have an entrance on the stern." Ragsdale mentioned.

"So we have to figure out how to get on the ship. If the only entrance to the ship is the stern, then we can assume that they'll be guarding it heavily," Skylar replied.

Anna and Josh looked at each other, then nodded. "Since we've been disrupting the other shipments, they'll be expecting us," Anna said. She paused, thinking for a few moments. Then, an idea came to her. "They'll be expecting Josh and I. After all, we've had quite a few encounters with them. But they won't be expecting you three." She said to Skylar, Ragsdale, and Brittany.

"Well, I don't think it's smart if Dale goes," Skylar mentioned. "Her leg isn't ready yet."

"I agree," Josh said. "I believe Skylar and Britt should go, Dale will be their eyes and ears from the truck."

"What about you two?" Britt asked. "What part will you and Anna be playing in this whole operation?"

Josh looked at Anna, and a small smile appeared on his face. "Anna and I are going to be the distraction. We're going to lure away the guards from the boat, which will give you and Skylar time to finish the job," he answered, looking back at Brittany. "Trust me, the plan will work. The Freedom Healers may be strong and they may outnumber us, but we'll outsmart them."

"Alright, everyone get some rest." Ragsdale stated. "We have a long day tomorrow, going to get all the weapons and other shit that we need."

After the meeting, when everyone else was asleep in the old spa, Brittany stared at the ceiling. She felt that if she fell asleep, the nightmares and vision would come back to her. Not twenty miles away was the place where she had been held captive from age 15 to 20. Not twenty miles away, was the place she watched her family and girlfriend get brutally murdered.

She tried closing her eyes, but it was no use. She stood up from the bed she was on and walked out to the weight room. Brittany taped her hands up and started punching a punching bag, trying to forget, or least get the memories out of her head for a little while.

Anna was woken up by the faint sounds of someone punching the punching bag. She sat up and rubbed her eyes, looking out the window and estimating that it was around 1:00 in the morning based on how the moon had started to descend in the sky. She stood up and yawned before slowly walking to the training room.

As she got closer to the training room, the punches got louder. Anna squinted as her eyes adjusted to the lights, and she saw Brittany was the one who was up this early. The brunette walked inside and sat down on in a chair. "What are you doing up this early?"

"I don't get much sleep nowadays," Britt stated, continuing to punch the bag with ferocity and frustration. "Especially since we're back where it all started for me." She mentioned, punching the bag a little harder.

"Fair enough," Anna replied, watching Brittany's punches. "You might want to ease up a bit on the punching bag and save the good punches for the Freedom Healers. We don't want you breaking your wrist or anything before the real fight begins."

"I think I know my limits," Brittany mentioned, stopping for a moment. "And I think if you were me, you'd be doing the same thing." She said, with sweat glistening on her arms, chest and forehead. Then she looked over at Anna. "Did I wake you up?"

"Yeah, but it's fine. I don't really need much sleep anyways. I've always been a night owl, as they say," Anna said. She stood up and walked over to Brittany. "Can you show me some of your punches again?" She asked.

Brittany stood there for a moment; wondering why Anna, who seemed so confident in herself was asking her to show off some of her punches. She then just shrugged and then asked, "Which ones would you like to see?"

"All of them. I want to see all your punches, and your stance," Anna answered, putting her hand on the punching bag so that it stopped swinging back and forth.

"Yeah, okay." Brittany said. She then spread her legs apart and bent slightly in the knees, holding her hands up close to her face. "Make sure your feet never stop moving, and that they're shoulder width apart. The first punch is just a left hook." She said, showing Anna the movement.

Anna copied Brittany's movement, mirroring the blonde's stance. After practicing the left hook a couple times, not hitting the punching bag too hard since her hands weren't taped up, Anna took a step back and awaited Brittany's next instructions.

They kept working for another two hours or so before Britt found it was a good time to stop the training. Anna was a fast learner, so teaching her this stuff wasn't too difficult. Once they had both showered, Britt went and sat on the roof and looked up at the night sky. Not far away you could the lights of the camp she had been taken to.

Anna watched Brittany climb up the ladder to the roof, and she debated for a few moments on whether or not she should join her, but the brunette decided against it. The training wasn't too difficult, but she was still tired, so she went back to where the others were and tried to catch some last-minute sleep before they had to be up and ready for the day.

In the morning, everyone got dressed and ready for the day. The main goal on the agenda that day was to find as many weapons and as much ammo as they could find in any of the stores. Ragsdale stayed behind to make some modifications to the lan and rest her leg. The other four split up. Josh and Skylar went in one group and Brittany went with Anna.

It was Josh and Skylar's job to look in the northwest part of Tampa while Britt and Anna looked in the southeast. Tampa had been a ghost town ever since the war, everyone had either died, fled, or been taken to internment camps. Britt's family lived up in Alaska during the war, and hadn't return until six and a half years ago; and once they returned they were immediately taken to the camp just outside Tampa.

Britt and Anna walked along one of the streets, searching to find their first ammo store. They were walking along the side of the road, looking in every storefront to see if any of them had what they needed. All the windows had been broken, either from the Freedom Healers' raids or from looting, but needless to say it added to the eerie feeling that both Anna and Brittany got while walking along the road.

Anna then stopped. The hairs on the back of her neck rose, and she couldn't figure out why. Then she heard a familiar sound: the rumbling of Freedom Healer trucks. "Britt, get down! Quick!" Anna hissed, climbing through a broken window of one of the storefronts and laying down on the floor.

Hearing the sound of those trucks make Britt's stomach flip, but she followed Anna into the store and then hid behind one of counters, listening to the sound of the trucks as they drove by. Britt took out the picture of her girlfriend and kissed it gently, holding it close to her heart for a moment before putting it back into her jacket pocket.

Anna slowly crawled over to the door, then stuck her head out to make sure that the trucks were gone. "The coast is clear," she said, standing up and offering a hand to Brittany, who took it as she stood up. "They must be sending trucks out to patrol the area since the shipment is going to be coming soon," Anna remarked.

"Great, that should make our job a hell of a lot easier," Britt said sarcastically. "Let's just be on the lookout for more cars or troops." Anna nodded and then they got up slowly, walking into the open air again with caution. About an hour later, Brittany looked in the window of an old store and saw a bunch of weaponry.

"Anna, in here!" She stated, busting the lock on the door before going inside.

Anna followed Brittany inside the store, and her jaw dropped. "I can't believe that there's so many weapons in here, and that they weren't taken by the Freedom Healers. There must be hundreds of dollars of stuff in here," she said, going behind the counter where there were tons of boxes of ammunition. "Man, we really hit the jackpot."

"Grab it all, we'll put it in some carts and take it back to the rec center." Brittany said, grabbing a few packs of different throwing knives and guns. "We're going to need all the help we can get. Oooo, hand grenades and smoke bombs, who sells this stuff anyways? I don't think selling these was even legal back in the days before the war."

"It doesn't matter. Whoever did sell this stuff obviously isn't around anymore," Anna replied, filling up a cart with some guns and ammo. After they both had filled a cart with weapons, they decided to head back to the rec center, but they took a different route to get back. They stayed on side streets and alleys, since it would be less likely that they'd encounter a Freedom Healer truck if they weren't on a main road.

They got back to the rec center, where Ragsdale, Skylar and Josh were waiting for them. "Did you guys find anything?" Anna asked as they pushed their carts inside.

"Well, Britt wasn't wrong when she said that Tampa was the weapon capital of Florida. We raided a few stores, and then brought it back here." Skylar said with a proud smile as they showed the two girls the amount of weapons they had.

"Awesome, we brought a cart of weapons back too. One of these carts holds enough supplies for us to operate tomorrow, I say we don't use all of it on this." Anna stated.

"That's a smart idea." Josh said.

"Plus there's one more job that we're going to have to pull off after this." Anna said.

"What's that?" Skylar asked.

Anna looked over at Britt, who also looked confused at what Anna was getting at. Anna then faced everyone else and spoke. "We're going to liberate that camp just outside of Tampa, and rescue the survivors."

Josh looked from Anna to the carts of supplies, then nodded. "Yeah, we definitely have enough weapons and ammo for that. It might be a bit more of a challenge, considering that those camps are made to be impenetrable, but that's never stopped us before. I say that we liberate the camp."

"Yeah, I'm in too. Those people don't deserve to spend any more time in that camp. We need to do whatever we can to free them," Skylar said, Ragsdale nodding in agreement.

"Alright then, it's decided," Anna said, turning to Britt. "We're going to liberate the camp."

Britt stood there for a moment, not speaking. A choked up look appeared on her face, but the girl just nodded and said, "Okay, sounds like a plan." She said.

"Alright, everyone should get a little light training in." Josh said. "We want to stay loose for tomorrow."

Once the group split up to do their own workouts, Britt decided to take go shower and relax herself. After that she put some clothes on and tried not to think of the camp. The place where she lost everything, and the place she almost died while escaping. She sat down on a chair in the lobby and out her head in her hands, trying not think about the memories.

Anna and Josh were sorting the weapons and the ammo, and Anna noticed Brittany and that she seemed upset. The brunette frowned. She thought that suggesting that they should liberate the camp would have pleased the blonde, but it seemed like it did the opposite. "Hey, can you keep sorting this stuff? I'm gonna be back in a few minutes," Anna said to Josh before she approached the blonde.

"Hey," she said softly, sitting down in the chair beside her. "Is everything okay?"

At first, the young blonde didn't say anything. Her head was still in her hands, after a few minutes she finally sat up and looked at Anna.

"I'm just trying to not think about what happened while I was at the camp. I saw things, things that I'll never be able to forget." Britt stated, holding the polaroid she kept of her family in her hands. "I am happy that you want to rescue the people there, it's just-"

"I get it," Anna said, "I mean, I don't really get it because I haven't ever experienced something like that, but I understand. If you don't want to come with us when we go to the camp, you don't have to. I'm not going to try to make you do anything that you don't want to."

"I guess that I'll just have to think on whether I should go or not. Even though it would probably lift a small weight off my shoulders, that camp is the reason I don't really sleep anymore." Brittany said, playing with her hands as she spoke. "Why are you doing this anyways? It's going to be nearly impossible."

"Almost everything that we do is nearly impossible. There aren't many people that would be up for the tasks that we do on a daily basis. But we don't do things based on whether or not they're easy. We do them because they help people. In the last couple of days, we've gotten three new members who have all been in a camp. Hearing them talk about what it was like really opened my eyes. We have to help them, because I couldn't live with myself if we didn't at least try," Anna replied, looking Brittany straight in the eyes.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Britt asked.

"I'm beyond sure."

Britt nodded and then looked down at the ground. "I'll go, but if we're successful and get those people out, I can't promise that I won't wake up in the middle of the night screaming from a nightmare." She said, swallowing a lump her throat. "I can't promise that it won't make my PTSD any worse."

"Don't worry, Britt. We'll understand. We all have experienced something awful. We all have our demons. It's okay," Anna said, her voice soft and gentle. "What's most important right now is that you mentally prepare yourself for going back there. And if you end up changing your mind, that's okay. Like I said before, we're not going to make you do anything you don't want to do."

Britt smiled softly, maybe Anna was kinder at heart than she was on the surface. "Thanks, I think I'm going to eat some food and get to sleep, big day tomorrow." She said, biting her lip nervously.

"Yeah, I should probably get back to sorting the weapons. I'll see you tomorrow," Anna said, smiling back at Brittany before returning to Josh, who had a smile on his face along with a raised eyebrow. "What are you looking at?" The brunette asked.

"You have a soft spot for that girl." Josh said, his smile turning into a smirk.

"Not this again," Anna said, although she didn't deny her brother's words. "Can we please just focus on sorting these weapons? We need to make sure that we're absolutely prepared for tomorrow. We can't afford to make any mistakes, or else the whole mission goes south."

"Alright, alright." Josh said, holding his hands up in defense. "I just couldn't help but notice." He stated, smiling at his younger sister. "You could do a hell of a lot worse, she is very beautiful." Josh said before continuing to load some the of guns.

Anna looked over at Brittany, a small smile couldn't help but spread across her face when she saw the girl eating a pack of powdered sugar doughnuts. She was as Josh had put it, "very beautiful." Anna looked away before Brittany or Josh caught her looking, but she still wore the same smile on her face.

That night, Anna found it very difficult to sleep. She had always been that way when there was a mission the next day: she just couldn't shake the nervousness from herself. She knew that they had a good plan, but thoughts of all the things that could possibly go wrong raced through her head all night long, making it difficult to get any rest.

The next morning, the five of them drove the truck down the pier, and then set up the bombs and mines that would go off if someone stepped on them. Brittany and Skylar found their the place where they would jump on the boat and set up the bombs. Ragsdale had her head gear nice and ready, so they decided to spend the remaining hours sitting on the pier, overlooking the beautiful ocean. "What was it like, growing up here?" Ragsdale asked Britt.

"Well, I had only just turned five when the war had started. But it was a nice, quiet beach life up until then." Brittany said, smiling to herself as she thought of her early childhood.

"I bet it was," Ragsdale said, looking out at the ocean. "I can imagine how nice it was to wake up to the sound of the waves every day. When all of this ends, I'd like to live somewhere near the ocean. I've always wanted to, but then the whole war happened."

"How old were you when the war started?" Brittany asked.

"I was seven. My family and I headed to a small town in Greenland to escape the war. But once it had spread there, My family was separated right as the war ended and I was on my own until about two years ago, when I was taken to a camp in Kentucky." Ragsdale said, taking a sip of water. "I assume the rest of my family was taken to other camps around the world."

"I'm sorry to hear about that." Britt said. "No one should have to go through that."

"Well, none of this should've happened anyways, but it did. And we just have to try and fix it." Ragsdale stated.

A couple hours later, the group got into position, as trucks of Freedom Healer soldiers had already begun to arrive in preparation for the shipment arriving in the coming hours. Ragsdale was in the truck, which was concealed in behind an old auto-shop. Josh and Anna were waiting in the attic of an old house, which conveniently didn't have any locks on the doors.

To pass the time, Josh and Anna were playing a game of rock, paper, scissors. "Do you think the plan will work?" Anna asked her brother.

"I have to believe it will work or else there's no hope in it working at all." Josh said. "This part of the mission will be a piece of cake, it's the camp that I'm worried for. And I think you know why."

Of course Anna knew why. It was an internment camp, if they failed they would become prisoners. Not to mention Britt, Skylar and Dale having already been a part of one already. "I think we can do it. I think we can stop this whole fiasco and then free all those innocent people." Josh said, placing his hand on his sisters shoulder.

Anna nodded. "I just don't want to think about the things that we'll see when we get there. It's going to be horrible. I don't know if there's any way that I can prepare myself for it," she said in a somber tone.

"It's going to be bad, but we have to remember that we have a job to do. We have to free those people, and we can't let the enemy get into our heads. If we let that happen, they've already won," Josh replied. He stood up and looked out the window, seeing the guards walking around the pier. "The ship should be here any minute now. We should get ready to go."

The two of them got ready to shoot the multiple flares as men in black uniforms tied the boat to the dock. Close by, Skylar and Brittany were in position, ready to go whenever Ragsdale sent the signal. Brittany looked at the boat, it wasn't very sturdy. And it seemed to be made of wood, like way back in time when pirates sailed the seas in the 1800's.

Josh and Anna, each holding a flare gun, slowly crept out of the abandoned house and down towards the pier. They went in two separate directions so that they would lure the guards away to different places, where they would keep them occupied while Skylar and Brittany boarded the ship. Anna hid behind a dumpster, while Josh was in a grove of trees. Anna made eye contact with her brother, then took a deep breath and fired the flare gun up in the air. Her brother did the same, and two red flares flew up into the sky, lighting up the sky as the sun sunk into the ocean for the night.

Guards at the boat began murmuring amongst themselves, wondering why a flare had been shot up at that time. Two mens stood guard at the back of the boat while the others split up to for look for where the flares had come from. Flare guns had been used in the war by the Healers to report an fallen or injured warrior. That was when Britt and Skylar heard Ragsdale in their ears.

"It's clear, walk along the under docks. There are two guards, which shouldn't be too hard to handle." She said.

Skylar and Brittany exchanged a look and then did as Ragsdale said, walking underneath the docks and making sure to stay in the shadows so they weren't spotted.

Anna was still crouching behind the dumpster, and she heard the footsteps of the soldiers get louder as they neared her location. Judging from the footsteps, she estimated that there were at least six or seven soldiers. She remained silent, knowing that the element of surprise would be an advantage.

"Who the hell shot the flare?" One of the soldiers asked in a rough voice.

"That would be me," Anna said, jumping out from behind the dumpster and immediately punching the soldier in the face, knocking him out cold. Before two of the other soldiers could react, Anna shot them in the back and then got into a fist match with one of the other soldiers. She twisted his arm and pulled him around just in time for one the other men to shoot him.

Then Anna used what Brittany had taught her, and used a left hook and then a roundhouse kick to the head knock him out cold. "You guys are making this too easy." She said to the three guys that remained.

Two of the soldiers charged at her, and Anna dove underneath their legs, then delivered an uppercut to the third soldier, causing him to stumble backwards. The brunette kicked his shin, and as he was falling to the ground, she kneed him in the stomach.

Turning around, Anna blinked once and then was tackled to the ground by one of the soldiers. She was able to reach for her hunting knife, and she stabbed the soldier in the thigh, causing him to cry out in pain. Anna then headbutted him, knocking him out before pulling her knife out of his thigh.

Meanwhile, Brittany was taking aim with one of her throwing knife, she then let it fly with such accuracy and speed the other soldier didn't even see the knife being thrown until it had hit his fellow guard in the stomach. That one soldier fell into the water, and before the other one could react, Jesse shot him in the shoulder.

"Nice throw by the way," He said as the two of them hopped onto the stern of the boat and opened the door, heading inside to find hundreds of pounds of drugs and money.

"Ready to set the bombs?" Brittany said.

"You bet I am," Skylar said, taking the bombs out of his backpack and starting to set them.

"Now what do you think you're doing, young man?" A voice asked. Skylar looked up, seeing that a figure had emerged from the shadows. "Yes, I'm talking to you. As far as I can tell, you're trying to blow up this boat. Well, I'd advise you not to do that, because that would be a very, very bad idea."

Skylar looked over to Brittany. "Who the hell is this guy?" He whispered. The voice was very familiar, but he couldn't put his finger on where he remembered the man from.

"Do you not remember me? I didn't think you would forget so easily," he said, fully stepping into the light.

That's when Brittany recognized him…the one man she had been longing to exact her revenge on. Heinrick Francis.

 **Sorry for the cliffhanger! But we hope you've enjoyed the chapter! There is plenty more to come! Of course Britt won't get her revenge on Francis now, but it will happen at some point.**

 **Plus, does Anna have a bit of a crush on Brittany? Stay tuned to find out.**

 **Until Next Time,**

 **Elle and Gabi.**


	4. Chapter 3: Re-Captured

Chapter 3: Re-Captured

Heinrick saw the recognition flash in the blonde's eyes, and he smiled. "Ah, so at least someone remembers who I am," he said, taking a step towards the blonde. "Now, I must remember you. Who could ever forget those beautiful blue eyes?" He turned back to the brown-haired man. "I'm going to give you two options. The first option is that you stop what you're doing right now and come with me. Nobody gets hurt. Not yet, at least. The second option, you can keep attempting to blow up the boat and I kill you and your blonde friend. What do you choose?"

Heinrick then walked over to Brittany and got her to look at him with by lifting her chin up, so they were face to face. Hundreds of horrible memories flashed through Brittany's mind. She froze, unable to forget the horrors that Heinrick had unleashed upon her and her family.

"Come on darling," the man was in his later forties, with gray hair showing up at his hairline. Britt still recognized the dark, black eyes that had caused her to have nightmares. "Your family, and that pretty little girlfriend of yours. Well, they got what they deserved. I couldn't stand to see those blue eyes hurt, but they made the choice to fight against me, and look where that got them."

Britt pulled out her knife and gave him a cut on his cheek. The man stood back a step. "That wasn't smart." He said, hitting the girl and knocking her out cold as her head slammed against one the crates holding the money. Heinrick then turned to the brown-haired man and did the same, knocking him out as well. He grabbed both of them and began to drag their unconscious bodies out of the boat and towards the stairs which lead back to land.

What Heinrich didn't know was that Skylar had managed to activate one of the bombs, and only one bomb was enough. The explosion caused a loud booming sound, and chunks of wood flew everywhere while smoke filled the air. Anna, who had just finished taking out a guard, heard the explosion and smiled. "They did it!" She yelled, "They did it!"

"Has anyone heard from Britt or Sky?" Josh asked through their walkie talkie system as he made his way back to the pier. "I haven't heard them since they-" that was when he stopped dead in his tracks. He saw a dark figure dragging their Britt and Skylar towards one of the trucks.

"Take these two to the camp, we're going to have some fun tonight." Heinrick stated, throwing the two into one of the trucks.

"Fuck," Josh said, making sure to stay hidden.

Anna heard Josh curse over the walkie talkie, and she paused. "Josh, what's wrong?" She asked. No answer came from her brother, so Anna repeated her question. "Josh, what the hell happened? Answer me!"

"They managed to blow up the boat, they were caught and captured. I think they're being taken to the camp." Josh stated, swallowing a lump in his throat. "They're being taken back to the camp where Brittany originally escaped from."

"Oh my god," Anna murmured, her eyes widening in shock. "Oh my god. We have to follow the truck! Can you still see it?"

Josh looked at the truck, and saw it heading north out of the city towards the camp. "It's heading north towards the internment camp. Meet me back at the pier and we'll drive after it."

"Dale, did you hear that? Bring the truck around to the pier and pick up Josh and I," Anna said.

"I'm already on it," Ragsdale replied, putting the key in the ignition and bringing the truck around to the pier. Both Josh and Anna race back to the pier, climbing into the truck before Dale put her foot on the gas, driving up behind the truck.

"Shit, shit, shit." Anna said to herself, her heart beating fast as they made their way to the camp.

Once Heinrick and his followers got to the camp with Britt and Skylar, they dragged the two of them in handcuffs to the courtyard. "Leave the boy," Heinrick said. "Bring the girl, to the interrogation room."

The soldiers did as Heinrick told them to, putting Skylar in a cell and then bringing Brittany to the interrogation room.

Not far behind were Dale, Josh, and Anna. All three of them were terrified. They had succeeded in stopping the mission, but Brittany and Skylar had been captured. Every second that passed, the feeling of dread in Anna's stomach only grew worse.

"Fuck, I hope they're alright." Josh said as Dale pressed her foot on the gas pedal.

"Or even alive." Dale said, driving faster up the road.

"Well, well." Heinrick said, kneeling down before Brittany. She had been strapped down to a chair, and was squealing in horror. Heinrick untied her mouth so she could speak. "I knew I wouldn't forget those blue eyes. It's really too bad that you had to watch your family suffer, to watch your family meet their fate. And then you escaped, only to brought back, right where you belong."

When the blonde didn't speak, Heinrick frowned. "Have you become mute? Speak!" He screamed, slapping her across the face. "I'm sure you've been wanting to kill me for years, haven't you? Well it's a shame, because now I get to kill you."

Brittany sat there silently, watching his black eyes. "I feel sorry for you." She finally spoke up. "To feel the need to kill all these innocent people, to watch people lose their families, what ever happened to you? To make you want to take everything away from me, and from millions of other people, takes only the saddest man in the world, doesn't it. I pity you." She said before getting a deep knife cut to her hand.

"I don't want your pity." Heinrick said, glaring into her eyes. "I just want to see your beautiful, kind blue eyes before I kill you." He continued to glare at Brittany, his eyes never leaving hers. "It will certainly be a shame to not be able to see those eyes again after I kill you. It's no matter. There will be others just like you, others with beautiful blue eyes, and I will kill them too, just like I am going to kill you." He paused, smiling smugly. "And don't even bother hoping that your friends will come rescue you, because if they have any common sense whatsoever, they're already long gone."

Brittany sat there, tears welling up in her eyes. She shut her eyes for a moment before opening them again, feeling her adrenaline kick in as Heinrick brought a different knife over. "You're going to suffer, just like the rest of your family did."

Anna and Josh had hopped out of the truck once they had made it to the camp. Anna had about five different grenades in her pocket, as well as a bunch of backup ammo. "You go and look for Sky," she said. "I'm going to go find Brittany."

Heinrick turned his head and smiled an evil smile. "If you scream, I'll make you suffer more." He said, and he began carving a word into Brittany wrist, causing the girl to squirm and scream out in pain from the sharp knife's blade. He pulled back once he was done and smiled at his word. On Brittany's wrist was the word "alone," and the girl was crying from the pain.

It was actually quite easy for Anna to slip past the guards. She stayed back in the shadows, moving from building to building, until she finally reached the largest one, which she assumed was the main complex. She knew that going in the front doors would be suicide, so she found a side door and used her hunting knife to break the lock. The brunette quickly went inside, shutting the door behind her and surveying her surroundings..

It was oddly quiet in the building, and there were no guards to be seen. Anna held her knife in one hand and her pistol in the other. She walked around cautiously, unsure where to go until she heard a scream that made her face go pale. "Brittany!" Anna muttered to herself, running in the direction of where the scream had come from.

"At least your family didn't die alone like you will." Heinrick whispered in her ear. "At least they had someone to hold them."

Brittany didn't say anything, she just sat there, her voice hoarse from from screaming. She had a feeling this was the end. But just outside of her door, Anna looked through a small hatch, and saw what was going on. Heinrick had a hold of Britt's bloody arm on which he had carved the word into her wrist.

Overcome by a sudden rage, Anna kicked the door open, not even needing to break the lock. A look of shock was on Heinrick's face, and a look of relief on Brittany's. "How the hell did you get in here?" Heinrick demanded, turning towards Anna. "You better turn around right now if you know what's best for you."

Anna gritted her teeth together and raised her pistol. "Never," she growled.

Heinrick smiled and laughed. "Very well," the man said, rushing towards Anna with his knife. The brunette ran towards him as well, aiming the pistol for his head.

Time seemed to slow down as the two ran at each other, Heinrick wielding his knife and Anna with her pistol. Anna was too blinded by her rage to realize that Heinrick's knife had pierced her stomach. She looked down, saw the knife sticking out, and then looked back at Heinrick. "I. Hate. You," she hissed, holding the pistol up and pulling the trigger. She didn't see where she hit the man, though, because she was already on the ground.

Heinrick fell to the ground, wincing in pain. Anna's shot had hit him in the shoulder. Brittany watched in horror, and then she felt a sudden urge to break out of her restraints. "Anna!" She yelled as she broke free. Brittany grabbed Anna and picked her up, running her across the long hall to the medical bay, where they kept the wound healing medicines.

The blonde girl could feel her wrist bleed out, and she was starting to feel woozy and lightheaded as she carried Anna to the medical bay.

Once they got there, she went for the instant healing serum. There was only one left and she was going to use it on Anna. "Breathe Anna, this is going to hurt a little, so just…breathe for me." She said, feeling her blood loss in her wrist increasing. She then gave Anna the shot that would give her the relief and healing she needed right before Brittany herself fell to the ground.

Anna cried out in pain, breathing heavily. Soon, however, the pain subsided. Anna pulled the knife out of her stomach and tossed it on the ground. "Brittany?" She asked, coughing. No response came from the blonde. "Brittany? Are you okay?" Anna said, bending down and picking the blonde up. "Shit," she muttered, looking around for anything she could use to stop the bleeding from her wrist.

"Anna?" Josh's voice called from her walkie talkie. "Anna are you okay? Where's Brittany? Did you find her? I have Skylar here." He called out, waiting for a response.

Brittany lay there on the floor, unconscious. Anna was in a panic, she couldn't let Brittany die. If she did, she'd never be able to live with herself.

Josh continued to talk through the walkie talkie until Anna snapped out of her daze. "Yeah, I'm fine. Heinrick stabbed me but I'm okay. I have Brittany here in the medical bay, and she's unconscious from blood loss. Please, get here quickly! Guards could come any minute," Anna said. She took off one of the sheets from a bed and wrapped it around Brittany's wrist. "There. That should stop the bleeding for now."

The young blonde girl remained unconscious in Anna's arms, her heartbeat was faint but was still alive.

Just then, Skylar and Josh burst through the front door. "Fuck," Josh said. He picked Brittany up and carried her through the hallway as they tried to escape. Skylar went through, unlocking all the doors to the cells, telling the prisoners to run as fast as they could to get out of there. Anna could feel her heart racing as everyone of the prisoners ran through the hallways, outnumbering the numbers of men guarding the hallways.

Once they broke out into the night, Josh, Anna and Skylar ran to their truck. Brittany was still unconscious in Josh's arms once they lay her down in the back seat of the truck. "Drive! Now!"

Ragsdale put her foot on the gas pedal as soon as they all got in the car, and the truck sped away from the camp. It was dark out, but somehow Dale navigated through the trees, and soon they were out on an open road again. Anna finally caught her breath once she was sure that they weren't being followed. "Oh my god. Oh my god," she muttered over and over to herself.

"Breathe Anna, breathe." Josh said, comforting his sister.

"You didn't see what I saw." Anna snapped back, referring to what Heinrick had been doing to Brittany. Torturing her, scaring her, trying to kill her. "If she dies because I didn't get there on time...if she dies because I didn't save her...I don't know what I'll do," the brunette whispered, holding her head in her hands while she tried to fight off tears.

"Hey, hey it's going to be alright." Josh whispered, pulling his sister into a hug. "Don't blame yourself, okay? She made the choice to join us, she knew things weren't always going to go to plan. Just take a couple deep breaths, she's going to be alright." He murmured.

After a while longer Josh went up to help Ragsdale navigate. Anna stayed at Britt's side. She tended to the wounds on Britt's wrist as the girl lay there, lifeless. When Anna saw the actual word carved into Britt's arm, she felt her gut wrench. "Alone," in small but visible letter, were sitting there, deep in Britt's skin.

"I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry," Anna whispered, a few tears falling down her face. "I'm sorry I didn't get there in time. I'm sorry I let him do this to you. I'm so, so sorry," she said, her voice cracking with emotion.

Just then, a cough came from Brittany's lips. It was faint, but when another cough came it was stronger. Brittany's eyes began to flutter open, and she began hyperventilating, thinking she still somehow near Heinrick. The beat of her heart rose, faster and faster. "Where am I?" She said, her eyesight slowly coming back to her, the amount of blood she had lost made her vision blurry.

"We got you out of there," Anna said, quickly wiping away the tears on her face. "We're in the truck now, and we're never going back to that horrible place."

Brittany winced once she felt the pain in her wrist, and she looked down. Seeing what Heinrick had done once the letters became clearer she felt steaming hot tears fall against her cheek.

Anna saw Brittany begin to cry, and her gut wrenched. "I'm so sorry, Brittany. There was so much more I could've done, so much more I should've done. I'm so, so sorry," Anna said, a lump growing in her throat.

THe young girl took Anna's hand in hers. "This isn't your fault, in no way what he did is your fault." She then looked back at what Heinrick had done to her wrist, and then teared "He's right, what he wrote on my wrist. I am alone." Brittany said. "He isolated me, and then made me watch every single one of my family members die. He's the one who made me alone. That's what I am." She said, crying softly.

Anna sat there in silence, not sure how to comfort Brittany. She had never been very good with emotions, and had always tried to stay out of situations where she would have to talk about emotions with other people. "You're not alone anymore, Brittany. You're with us now. You have Dale, Skylar, Josh," the brunette paused, biting her lip, "And you have me."

"But you hate me," Brittany said. "Don't you?" She said, looking at Anna with red, tearstained eyes.

Anna looked into Brittany's eyes. "No, I don't hate you. I never did hate you, Brittany, even though I was a bitch to you. I never hated you, and I never will."

"If you never have hated me, why did you treat me like you did? I've been pretty convinced over the last week or so that you can't stand to have me around." Brittany said, holding her wrist when it stung. When Anna stayed silent for a moment, Brittany spoke up again. "Why, Anna? Talk to me." She said.

"I treated you the way I did because my pride was hurt when we first met. You easily overpowering me made me feel terrible. I felt like I wasn't strong. I felt like I wasn't good enough. That's why," Anna replied, looking down.

"So you treated me the way you did for the last week because I hurt your pride?" Brittany said, feeling a little hurt. "And what changed your mind, seeing me almost lifeless? Did take you that long to swallow your pride, I had to save your ass and almost die in order for you swallow your pride and be nice to me. Yeah, that makes me feel much better." She said, getting choked up and shedding a couple more tears.

"No, no. That's not what I meant. Please don't cry," Anna said, "You're misunderstanding me, Britt. I didn't mean it to come out that way. What I meant is that I-" The brunette stopped talking and looked away from Brittany.

"That you what?" Brittany asked, obviously hurt in more ways than one now. "Just say it, let's see if it can make me feel worse than I already feel." She said, crying at this point.

Anna remained silent, debating on whether or not she should finish her sentence. She really wanted to; she wanted to tell Brittany how she felt, but she didn't want the blonde to hate her. "I-I can't tell you, because you'll be the one to hate me," she said softly. "If I tell you, will you promise that you won't hate me?"

"I promise," Brittany said. "You're still not my favorite person right now, but I promise to forgive you at some point." She said genuinely. "Just tell me, the real reason. Nothing about your fucking pride, give me the honest to God answer."

Anna nodded, then took a few deep breaths. She brought her gaze up to meet Brittany's eyes. "The real reason is that...I think I'm in love with you," she said quietly, her voice barely above a whisper. She immediately looked away, preparing for the blonde to lash out at her.

"What?" Brittany said, not really able to hear or understand what Anna had said. "Can you say it so I can hear you?" She asked, wondering why Anna wouldn't look at her.

Feeling her cheeks turn red with embarrassment, Anna looked away for a few more minutes. "You know what, screw it," Anna muttered to herself. She turned around so she was looking at Brittany once again. "I think I'm in love with you. There. That's the reason."

There was a dead silence between the two of them. Brittany had definitely understood Anna that time, and she had to admit her heart had just sped up a little bit. "Anna, I-"

Anna gulped, knowing what Brittany was going to say. "No, don't say anything. It's fine. I shouldn't have put you on the spot like that. I'm sorry," the brunette said, looking away as tears started to well up in her eyes. Before Brittany could say anything, the truck came to a stop, and Anna got up. "I'm going to go get something for you to eat." She said, trying to keep her voice from sounding shaky. And with that, Anna got out of the truck, leaving Britt under Dale's watch for the time being.

Britt lay there, unable to understand what she was feeling at that moment. She hadn't heard those words in a really long time. Not since her days in the internment camp.

Dale looked over to Brittany, who looked unusually pale. "Hey Britt, is everything okay? You look like you've seen a ghost," the older blonde woman said to her.

"Huh?" The younger girl answered. "Yeah, I'm okay. I'm just woozy that's all." She said, which wasn't completely untrue. But not completely true either.

Meanwhile, the other three were getting snacks for the road. They had stopped at a rest stop and were looking through the different snacks of the vending machine. Anna was silent, which didn't go unnoticed by Josh and Skylar, but they figured that if the brunette wanted to talk about it, then she would. Once they had gotten some bags of chips and other similar snacks, they went back out to the truck.

"Here. I got you some chips and a water. I hope that's alright," Anna said to Brittany.

The blonde girl kindly nodded, and took the chips and water. "Thank you," she said, as genuinely as she could. An awkward silence happened between the two of them.

Anna nodded, then remained silent as they continued driving. She wanted to know what Brittany was going to say before she interrupted her, but at the same time she didn't, because she feared that she would end up heartbroken. Anna was quiet, even though her thoughts were racing during the internal debate in her head.

On their way to Lincoln throughout the next few days, Brittany and Anna remained distant unless the whole group was together.

Brittany had been wanting to talk to Anna about what had happened the night of England shipment, but Anna would find any excuse not to talk to her. And Brittany could understand why, fear of rejection. The truth was, Brittany was still in love with Hadley, the girl in the photo who she watched die at the camp. But she couldn't bare to hurt Anna anymore than she had already seemed to.

"What's going on sis?" Josh asked. They were getting gas in Missouri, and Brittany was with Skylar and Dale, getting some more snacks. "You've been unusually non-hyperverbal."

"Nothing's 'going on,' Josh. I'm fine. Please just leave me alone," Anna replied, not making eye contact with her older brother. "I'm really not in the mood to talk right now, that's all."

Josh stopped his sister, tucking her hair back and looking her in the eyes. "I know something happened between you and Brittany that night we rescued the people from that camp. I'm not saying you have to tell me right this minute, but just know I'm here to talk alright? You seem upset, and I'm just looking out for you. That's my job as your older brother."

Anna smiled gratefully at Josh. It was only a small smile, but it still said a lot. "Thanks, Josh. I appreciate it, I really do. I don't really wanna talk about it right now, but you'll be the first I talk to when I am ready," the brunette said, still smiling a little bit.

They finished filling up the tank and then Josh got behind the wheel, as it was his turn to drive. Anna chose to sit in the bed of the truck, even though there was enough room in the backseat. She just needed some time to clear her head.

That night when they had stopped in an abandoned campsite, Brittany walked over to the lake, skipping rocks. It was soothing, and got her mind off of everything that was going on at the moment.

Anna rolled out her sleeping bag, looking out in the distance and seeing Brittany by the lake. She decided that enough time had passed, and she needed to talk to Brittany about what happened the other night. The brunette walked towards the lake slowly, thinking about what she was going to say.

Brittany looked at the peaceful, moonlit water. It calmed her down a little bit as she took a deep breath. She heard footsteps behind her and she turned around to see Anna walking towards her. "Hey," she said calmly as the brunette walked up, turning back to the lake and skipping another rock, smiling when the rock bounced several times against the surface of the water.

"Hi," Anna replied, standing beside Brittany as she continued to skip rocks on the water. "So, I've been thinking a lot about what I said the other day, and I just wanted to formally apologize. I know that you're still in love with your girlfriend from the camp, and it was unfair of me to put you on the spot like that. I completely understand why you don't reciprocate my feelings, and I want you to know that I'd still love to be your friend, because you're a really great person." When Brittany didn't respond at first, Anna held out her hand. "Truce?"

"I know you don't want to be just friends," Brittany said, turning to Anna. "And I'm sorry that I can't feel the same way. But I don't want you to say everything is okay and that you're okay with being friends when the other day you were crying after you told me that you loved me." She said, reaching her hand out to take a hold of Anna's. "I want you always be honest with me. So, with that said, you can hate me for not feeling the same way."

"I know that I can hate you for not feeling the same way, but I'm not going to. And you might not understand why I don't hate you, but it's simple. Friends don't hate each other, and I am being completely honest when I say that I'm okay with being just friends," Anna replied, looking into Chloe's eyes. "I'm not lying to you, Britt. I really am okay."

The younger girl didn't know what else to say, so she just nodded. "Okay, okay yeah." She said. "I believe you." They shook hands and then Britt said, "I'm going to stay out here a bit longer. You go ahead and get some sleep, I have the first watch."

"Alright. See you later," Anna said, turning around and walking back to the camp site. A little part of her hurt as she walked away, but she pushed it aside. She truly was willing to be Brittany's friend, and she would just have to ignore her feelings for the time being.

Brittany sat down on the grassy hill, looking up at the sky, searching it for answered, even though she knew she couldn't ask the ones she loved for answered. She felt terrible, even though Anna had insisted that she was alright with being friends, a part of her felt like she had just broken Anna's heart.

Meanwhile, Anna had somehow managed to fall asleep, but the only thing that she dreamed about was Brittany and how she had been rejected by the blonde. The dream wasn't exactly pleasant, but Anna did her best to ignore it until the dream ended and the rest of her slumber was dreamless.

When Josh had come out to take Brittany's spot on watch, he noticed the young girl sitting on the grass looking at the stars aimlessly. "Hey, are you stargazing?" He said, smiling as he walked up and sat next to her. Brittany just nodded, still looking up at the stars. "When Anna and I were little, our parents always took us stargazing. My mom had a book of pictures of the different constellations, and we'd have a little competition to see who could identify the most constellations in the sky," Josh said, trying to make casual conversation.

"That sounds like it would be really cool," Brittany said, smiling as she looked up to the sky. "I always have the night sky fascinating, ever since I was little. I've never felt so small." She said with a chuckle. After a moment, Britt looked down at the ground. "Have you ever lost someone you thought you were going to spend your life with?"

Josh looked over to Brittany, whose tone had gotten a lot more serious. "Uh, well, not really," he answered. "I mean, I lost my parents when I was little, but I don't think that's what you're talking about."

"Okay, well, I have. Her name was Hadley Shaver, and we met right before we were abducted into the camp." Brittany started. She then went on to say that they fell in love, promising each other that once they got out of the camp, that they would spend the rest of their lives together. That was, until Heinrick had other plans. She ended the story with Heinrick killing Hadley slowly in front of her when they were nineteen, by shooting her numerous times.

"Wow," Josh said, unable to figure out what to say next. "I'm so sorry." He stated.

"I only am telling you this because I promised myself to Hadley and I still am not over losing her. I'm still very much in love with her." Brittany said.

"Okay, why should I know this?"

Brittany looked back towards the truck and then looked back at Josh, sighing. "Because Anna told me that she thinks she's in love with me, and I feel like I hurt her by telling her I can't love her."

Josh wasn't surprised by this revelation, even though Anna hadn't told him herself. "Ah, so that's why there's been some tension between you two over the last couple of days," he inferred, everything suddenly becoming a whole lot clearer. "Well, I'm not really sure if this is much help, but I can tell you this. Anna's never been a person to get really attached to someone, so if she told you that she thinks she loves you, there's a good chance that she means it. That being said, she's also very understanding, and even though she might be hurting now, she'll get over it because she's strong, just like you."

"So, she won't hate me will she?" Britt asked hopefully.

"Of course not," Josh said. "She's just never been one to open up about her feelings because well, it's only been the two of us for the last seventeen years. Rejection and heartbreak are things people learn to deal with at their own pace. But Anna is a loving person, and she could never hate you. For hell's sake, the girl sprinted into the camp to find you."

Brittany bit her lip. "Did she really?" The blonde asked.

Josh nodded. "Yeah, the truck hadn't even stopped and she was already gone. If it weren't for the walkie talkies, we wouldn't have had any idea where she was," Josh said. "She cares about you. We all do. She just cares about you a little bit more than the rest of us."

Britt felt her heart flutter at the thought of Anna doing that for her. "Thanks for giving me a pep talk Josh, I'm going to get some sleep." She said, smiling patting his shoulder.

"Any time, Britt. I've been told once or twice that I'm an excellent giver of pep talks," Josh replied, smiling back at Brittany before taking over the watch so the blonde could get some sleep.

Brittany walked back over to the bed of the truck, seeing Anna sleep soundly with her feet facing the back window. The girl looked adorable when she slept, and Brittany couldn't help but smile. Brittany leaned down and kissed the brunettes cheek before smiling and climbing into the backseat, getting into her sleeping bag to try and get some rest.

 **Yes, we have been updating this story a lot! And we hope you are enjoying reading it as much as we are writing it. Anna is falling for Brittany, but they've agreed to be friends. Though there may still be something for them in the future. Also, this Heinrick dude is a psychopath, let's hope that they stop him and the Freedom Healers.**


	5. Chapter 4: Hurt

Chapter 4: Hurt

The next few days were a long drive up to the city of Lincoln, Nebraska. There were still a good amount of people who lived here even after the war, but it was under high surveillance from the Freedom Healers. So when they got there Josh, Anna, Brittany, Skylar, and Dale all had to lay low. How did they do this? They found an old house near the outskirts of town, Skylar used to live there with his parents before, during and after the war until they were separated by the Healers.

Everyone got their own rooms, and it was the first comfortable night of rest anyone had had. But above everything else right now, Brittany and Anna had managed to stay friends and actually get to know each other well, despite everything that had happened between them. They had grown really close after talking a lot and discovering that they had a lot of things in common, and while Anna was still a little bit upset from before, she still was happy, which was something she hadn't been in a while.

Because the whole city was under surveillance from the Healers, most of the days were spent inside. While it did get boring sometimes, there were opportunities for the group to bond as a whole. Skylar had gone into the attic and brought down some board games, so the whole group enjoyed reminiscing about their childhoods while playing the games. When they weren't getting to know each other, the spare time was spent planning for their next move against the Freedom Healers.

Currently, Josh and Skylar were battling against each other in a game of Madden on Skylar's old X-box while Ragsdale had just returned from a local grocery store. Brittany and Anna decided to make dinner for everyone.

Brittany was making some spaghetti and Anna was making garlic bread, it was a nice little set up and the two girls were smiling and laughing with each other.

"Alright, alright," Anna said, having to physically stop herself from continuing to laugh. "I need to focus on this garlic bread. I can't have my part of the meal end up being burnt," the brunette said.

"Anna, it's garlic bread, you're buttering it. You haven't even put it in the oven yet." Brittany stated with a chuckled while she added the cooked meat to the sauce.

"Oh," Anna said with a chuckle. "Yeah, I totally knew that," she said, trying to brush off her mistake. Brittany smiled and rolled her eyes, and Anna held her hands up in the air. "Hey, at least I'm trying."

"I will give you that, I just think you're adorable." Brittany said chuckling before returning back to cooking. Anna blushed big time and gazed at Brittany while she cooked.

Everything about this girl was beyond perfect in Anna's eyes. They had only know each other a couple of weeks, and Anna couldn't ever get Britt out of her head. Her long and beautiful blonde hair, that incredible smile. Not to mention those piercing, crystal blue eyes that Anna constantly caught herself getting lost in. Plus, she was a badass in combat. There wasn't anything about her that Anna disliked.

The young brunette had never been in love, but she wondered if what she felt for Brittany was what falling in love felt like. Having already agreed to be just friends with the blonde made Anna mentally facepalm any time her feelings for the blonde resurfaced. She knew that Brittany didn't and wouldn't feel the same way about her, but Anna couldn't help but smile every time Brittany spoke or even walked into the room.

Ragsdale was getting better at walking now that her leg had begun to heal. Skylar patted a spot for her on the couch while he and Josh continued to play Madden. Ragsdale leaned over and looked inside the kitchen, seeing Anna and Brittany talking and laughing intimately as they continued to cook.

"Do either of you notice how Anna acts around Brittany?" She asked in a quiet voice so the two other girls didn't hear her. "I mean, the girl is always smiling around Britt, and she blushes whenever Britt compliments or teases her."

Skylar shrugged. "I mean, I guess Anna's acting a bit different. She seems a lot happier. Maybe it's because the Tampa mission succeeded, and that we were also to liberate the camp," he said, keeping his eyes on the TV as he and Josh played Madden.

Josh bit his lip, wondering whether or not to intervene in the conversation.

"It seems like more than that though Sky," Dale commented. "Can't you at least see the way Anna looks at Britt?"

"Looking at her in what way?" Skylar asked Ragsdale, clearly missing the point that she was trying to make.

"God, you're thick," Dale murmured. She then put it in simple terms. "Do you think Anna has romantic feelings for Brittany?"

"Like, she wants to get into Britt's pants?" Skylar said, earning a slap on the arm from Dale. "Oww! What the-"

"I mean romantic feelings, like falling in love with her." Dale said, clearing it up for Skylar.

"I mean, I guess she could. Or she's finally coming out of her shell and starting to be friendly. Either way, it's nice that those two aren't constantly arguing like they used to a couple weeks ago," Skylar said to Dale.

Josh looked down, wishing he could say something but he knew Anna would kill him if he let out that she had feelings for Brittany.

"Dinners ready!" Britt called out from the kitchen. Skylar immediately got up from the couch when Brittany announced the food was ready, so Dale just dropped the subject and followed him into the dining room, Josh close behind.

While Britt was finishing the food, Anna had set out plates for everyone to get their food. "Wow, the food smells amazing," Skylar said as they walked in.

"Thanks guys," the two girls said in unison.

"Take a seat wherever you like." Brittany said smiling and bringing the food over to the table.

They all sat down except for Brittany and Anna, who dished out the food to the other people at the table. They served themselves last, and then sat down as well. Anna was sitting next to Josh, and Skylar and Ragsdale were sitting across from them, leaving Brittany to sit at the end of the table.

They all had pleasant, fun conversations while also talking about their next shipment.

Once dinner was over, Brittany washed the dishes and then walked over to the back deck, smiling as she looked at the sunset.

Anna and Josh were sitting in the living room playing chess and out the window Anna could see Brittany standing on the back deck. She smiled a little bit, watching the blonde before she made her next move in the game.

Josh noticed his sister stealing multiple glances at Britt. He then made his next move, smiling and saying "Your turn."

The young brunette thought about her next move. She then smirked and got her brothers king. "Take that."

"Why don't you go talk to her?" Josh suggested. "I have no way of coming back now. Go talk to her."

"Talk to who?" Anna asked, although she knew who Josh was talking about.

"You know I'm talking about Brittany. Why don't you go talk to her?" Her brother asked.

Anna hesitated, then shrugged. "I don't know. Why don't we just play another game of chess?"

"You know I can only handle one game of chess per day," Josh joked, laughing at his own comment. "You've been spending all day with her, what difference should a talk at sunset make?"

"I don't know. I'm just sure what we would really talk about. We've been hanging out all day, like you said. There's not much else to talk about that we already haven't talked about," Anna replied. She then looked out at Brittany and bit her lip nervously. "What would I even say?"

"Just, tell her some things about yourself. She said you don't talk a lot about yourself. Tell her how your favorite band of all time is U2, and ask her what kind of music she enjoys." Josh suggested. He then gave her a helpful nudge. "Go on, get out there and talk to her."

"Okay, fine," Anna said, standing up and going out the back door to the deck. She walked over to Brittany and stood beside her, leaning on the railing. "Hey," she said softly.

"Hey!" Britt said smiling widely when Anna showed up to watch the sunset. "Looks like you kicked you brothers ass at pool." She stated with a giggle, which Anna found absolutely adorable.

"Chess, actually. We were going to play another game, but I guess Josh can handle only one game of chess per day," Anna replied, smiling back at Brittany. She looked out at the sunset. "I've always loved watching sunsets. They're so pretty."

"I always have enjoyed watching them too, they always calm me down after a long and stressful day; just seeing the sky lit up in so many colors at once, it's relaxing." Brittany said. "So, it's needless to say I watched them every day while I was in the camp."

Anna nodded. "I can see why you'd do that," she said, a short silence between them as they continued to watch the sun set. "So...what's up?" Anna asked to break the silence.

"Besides everything that's going on already, not a lot." Brittany said, messing with the bandage over her wrist. She had been having nightmares of the last time she saw Heinrick, and she had also been having nightmares of seeing her family and Hadley killed right in front of her. "Just taking one day at a time." She said, hiding her pain. "What about you?"

"I guess I'm just taking it one day at a time too," Anna replied. She noticed Brittany kept fidgeting with the bandage on her wrist. "How's your wrist healing up?"

"It doesn't hurt physically, more than messing with my mental health." Brittany said. "Of all the words he could've picked, he picked 'alone,' and it reminded me of all the things he did to me. And not just killing my family and Hadley, he did other things to torture me once they were dead, and that word on my wrist reminds me of all of them."

"I'm sorry," Anna said quietly. "I wish I had stopped him from carving that word into your skin. It's my fault. I could've gotten there faster."

"No, it's not your fault." Brittany said. "Heinrick did this, it's his fault. He's a psychopath who messes with your head and makes you think everything's your fault. For the longest time I felt like the death of my family and Hadley was because of me. He made me think I could've saved them, but he doesn't care about who he kills. He does it for fun. He said he would take joy in watching me die a slow, painful death." She said, picking at the bandage. "And now he's branded me."

Anna was silent for a few moments, not sure what to say. Finally, she spoke up again. "I wish I had killed him," she said, her voice quiet, "I had the chance to, and my shot hit his shoulder. I should have killed him when I had the chance to. I might never get that chance again."

Brittany placed her hand on top of Anna's. "Don't beat yourself up over it. He nearly killed you, and I wouldn't have been able to live with myself if I had let another person die because of him. I'm just happy that we're both physically okay." She said, running her thumb over the back of Anna's hand in a soothing way.

"Thank you for what you did for me at the camp. When we were in the medical bay, you didn't have to give me the last instant healing serum, but you did. Thank you. Thank you," Anna said, looking in Brittany's eyes.

"I wasn't going to let you die, I wouldn't have been able to live with the guilt." Brittany stated. "Even though you had been a bitch to me until then, I can't stand having someone die when I could've saved them." After a heartfelt moment, Brittany squeezed Anna's hand and smiled. "Josh told me that you instantly went looking for me once you guys got to the camp. Is that true?"

Anna nodded, blushing a little bit. "Yeah. I'm not really sure what came over me. As soon as Dale drove into the camp, I jumped out of the truck and I ran to find you. I knew that I had to find you," she answered.

"Well, I never got the chance to thank you for that. It means a lot to me to hear that someone cares for me. I used to think I'd be alone the rest of my life but meeting everyone, especially you has made me believe that I'm not alone," Brittany said.

When Anna heard this, she couldn't stop herself from blushing. "I've always found it hard to open up to people because I was scared of losing them, but it was really easy for me to open up to you."

Now it was Britt's turn to go red. She then looked back out at the sun, gazing at it as it fell behind the hills. Anna felt something rise within her and she bit her lip before speaking. "I know that for now we agreed to remain friends, and I really like that. But I just want to know if there may be a chance for us to become something more? If there is, you should know I'll wait as long as you need me to."

"Anna," Brittany said, turning her head towards the brunette. "I really appreciate everything that you've been doing for me. Really, I do. But right now, I'm not ready to be in a relationship with anyone. I'm not ruling anything out for the future, but it may take a long time before I'm ready to commit to someone again," the blonde said, noticing how the brunette's eyes saddened a little bit.

"I know," Anna said, biting her lip and looking down. "I can wait for you, I'm good at waiting." Anna said, still a bit hurt that there wasn't a definite answer. She looked at the hills, noticing that the sun had gone down and the sky was growing dark. "Hell I've been waiting for my parents for seventeen years, I can wait to find out what it's like to be in love."

"Anna-" Brittany started.

"I'm just gonna go inside to get some sleep." Anna said, turning around and quickly walking into the house. She was still disappointed that Brittany wouldn't give her a definitive "yes" or "no," but the blonde had said that she wasn't ruling out the possibility of a relationship in the future, so at least she had made some progress.

Before Brittany could say anything in reply, Anna had already gone inside. The blonde bit her lip. She felt that once again, she had hurt Anna. She didn't want to hurt the brunette; she was a great person, but she had to understand that as much as she wanted to be in a relationship, she just wasn't ready.

Anna lay there in her bed, staring up at the ceiling. She had slammed her door behind her as she made it to her bedroom. Since then she had been laying there in her bed quiety. She knew Brittany had been through a lot, and that she had lost all her loved ones; it just felt like she wasn't interested in anything more than friendship. Maybe that's why she still hadn't given Anna an answer, because Brittany just didn't feel any romantic attraction to Anna.

Josh had been sitting in the living room, watching as his younger sister talked to Brittany. When he saw Anna's face right before she stormed into the house, he figured that she had once again been rejected by the blonde. He waited until the brunette had closed the door to her room, then went upstairs to see if he could be of any help. He knocked on the door a couple times. "Can I come in, Anna?"

"Please go away, Josh. I don't want to talk about it right now."

"Anna, we don't have to talk-" Josh said. "I just want to comfort you."

Anna got up and opened the door, tears welling up in her eyes. "Maybe you didn't hear me, because I asked you to go away. You're the one who keeps telling me to get to know her, to tell her how I feel. But both times I've mentioned or asked if there was a small opportunity for something more, and both times I haven't been given a straight answer." Anna rambled, a couple of tears falling down her cheeks at this point.

"Let's just face it, she's not into me in that way and she never will be. She's just too nice to say no because she doesn't want to break my heart. But I'm not stupid, she doesn't and won't ever feel that way about me. So stop trying to give me a pep talk or comfort. I just want to be alone right now so I can prepare for a life without knowing what love is!" She said before slamming the door in her brother's face.

Josh stepped back, a bit shocked by Anna's sudden outburst. He had known that his sister was going to be upset, but he didn't think she was as angry as she was. He sighed, then went back downstairs, knowing that trying to comfort Anna at that moment was a pointless task.

Brittany had come back into the house right after Anna had finished yelling at Josh, so she was surprised when she saw the look on Josh's face when he came downstairs. "What happened?" Brittany asked, a confused expression on her face.

"I've never seen my sister like that," Josh said, scoffing a laugh as he sat back on the couch and leaned against the back of it. "She just hasn't experienced a feeling like this before, but I haven't ever seen her seen her that upset. Not since we separated from our parents."

Brittany sighed, running her fingers through her blonde hair. "I'm sorry, Josh. This is all my fault. I don't want to hurt her or lead her on in any way, but I can't be in a relationship right now. I'm trying to get her to understand that, but she's not understanding what I'm telling her."

"I think what she doesn't understand is why you can't tell her 'yes' or 'no.'" Josh started. "She feels like you aren't giving her a legitimate answer because you aren't and will never feel the way about her that she does about you."

"She thinks that I couldn't ever love her?" Brittany asked.

"Basically. She just wants 'yes' or 'no,' so she can either move on from it, or keep hope. And for the record, it's not your fault. Anna can't help the way she feels, if she could then she wouldn't be human." Josh said, taking a sip of water.

"But I specifically said when I told her I wasn't ready to be in a relationship that I wasn't ruling out anything for the future? While it's not a 'yes' or a 'no,' it's still something. I'm just not sure how long it's going to take for me to heal. I don't want to completely reject her, but I also don't want to make any promises," Brittany said, looking at Josh. "What do you think I should do?"

"Well I've never been in a relationship, so I don't know how much help I'll be." Josh started, scratching his head as he tried to think of an answer. "I was old enough to understand what love was because I constantly watched my parents. But Anna was only five when we last saw them, so she doesn't understand how these things work because she never got the chance to at least observe it. While you were unlucky to lose the girl you love, at least you've experienced it. Anna never has, so she may be more eager to know what it's like."

"What's your point?" Brittany said, confused at the point Josh was trying to make.

"Anna doesn't know how love works. She thinks you feel something for someone or you don't. She thinks love is an instant thing, she doesn't know you can learn to love someone." Josh said, taking another sip of water. "I guess what I'm saying is, let her have some time to herself. Anna is a visual learner, she learns by seeing. So show her that it's not out of the question, don't just say it. If that makes sense."

Brittany nodded, understanding what Josh was telling her. "But if she doesn't understand how love works like you said, then what if she misinterprets my attempts to show her that a relationship isn't out of the question with me being ready for a relationship?" The blonde asked. "I just don't want to hurt her any more than I already have."

"My only answer for that is to think out what gestures you make; just so you don't hurt her or lead her on." Josh said. "Other than that, I'm afraid I have nothing else to say about that matter."

"Okay, I guess I'll go get some sleep then. Thanks for your help, Josh. I appreciate it," Brittany said, smiling gratefully at him before she went upstairs to her room, which was next to Anna's.

The next morning Anna got up early to go for a long run, trying to get her mind off of the night before and trying to get rid of the drowsiness she had from not getting any sleep that night. The sun was shining bright but it was still cold considering it was December, so Anna was dressed fairly warm with some old clothes she had found in Skylar's mother's closet.

After she got back from the run, she took a nice, hot, shower. Above all else that day, she was going to try having to avoid spending a lot of time with Brittany, still upset from the girl leaving her in constant wonder on whether they would ever be together. Josh's theory on why Anna was so upset was correct: she thought that Brittany was either in love with her or she wasn't and that wouldn't ever change. The brunette didn't understand why she couldn't just get a straight answer, that was what frustrated her most of all.

Anna had also been avoiding Josh, which didn't go unnoticed by her older brother. He figured that his sister would eventually come around, and that giving her space was the best thing at the time. When she was ready to talk to him again, she would. She always got over things sooner or later.

Skylar was currently taking Anna on in a game of Madden when Brittany walked into the game room. She bit her lip when she saw Anna, not knowing what to do. She had thought about what Josh had said last night, but she was still having trouble on figuring out what sort of things she could do to get Anna to understand that she could have a chance in the future.

Skylar looked over his shoulder and saw Brittany standing in the doorway. "Hey, Britt. Come join us," he said, gesturing for her to sit with them on the couch. Anna didn't look at Brittany, instead continuing to play the game. "Do you know how to play this game?" Skylar asked the blonde.

Brittany shook her head, looking over at Anna for a moment before looking back at Skylar. She then walked over and sat down next to Skylar, still staying quiet. "Do you want to learn?"

"I'd rather just watch for now." Brittany said, glancing at Anna out of the corner of her eye.

"Okay, sounds good." Skylar said before throwing a touchdown pass and cheering for himself while Anna sat there, like a zombie in front of the screen. Skylar noticed this and waved his hand in front of Anna, who didn't react at all. "Hey, earth to Anna," he said with a chuckle.

The brunette snapped out of her daze. "What did you say? Sorry, I was daydreaming," she muttered, looking down at the floor.

"I was just checking to see if you were still alive." Skylar said with a laugh. Anna didn't even chuckle, she just shrugged.

"I don't feel alive." She deadpanned, although there was some truth to that statement. She refused to look over at Brittany because she felt like she would have another mental breakdown.

Skylar laughed. "That was a good one, Kendrick," he said, "Now hurry up and snap the ball before you get a penalty called on you!"

"I don't even know what it means to snap the ball, but okay," Anna grumbled back, pressing all the buttons on the controller until something happened on the screen.

Skylar noticed Anna's attitude had been pretty somber that whole time, so once the play was over he paused the game. "Is everything okay Kendrick?"

"Why don't you ask Brittany? She can tell you all about how I'm feeling." Anna snapped, finally turning to face Brittany for the first time since the blonde girl had entered the room.

When Anna turned to face her, Brittany quickly looked away. Skylar noticed the looks that the two were giving each other, realizing that they were in the middle of some sort of disagreement. "You know what, I just remembered that I have to go help Josh with, uh, planning. I'll see you two later," he said, putting down his controller and leaving the room.

The two girls sat there quietly. Anna had her arms crossed, staring Brittany down while the younger girl played with her hands, still looking down at the ground. About half a minute passed before Anna spoke up again. "Well, are you going to talk or just sit there? Have you come to beat a dead horse and give me another non-answer?"

"Anna, I want to apologize to you-" Brittany said, being interrupted by Anna before she could finish her sentence.

"Brittany, I don't need your apology, I just need you to answer my damn question! You keep putting it off! It would hurt a lot less if you just told me 'no' instead of making me feel like I'm stupid!" Anna replied, raising her voice.

Brittany was tearing up, feeling her heartbeat rise with stress. "I already told you that I'm not ruling anything out! I just-" Brittany said, trying not to cry as she spoke. "I just need time, why can't you see that I just need time before I'm ready to consider being in a relationship!"

"In my experience, you either love someone or you don't." Anna said ignorantly.

"You've never even been in love, you've never been in a relationship!" Brittany yelled, instantly regretting what she had said.

"Thanks for rubbing that in," Anna said, feeling a nerve being hit by Brittany's words.

"You don't understand, when I first met Hadley, I couldn't stand her. It took me time to fall in love with her. I'm not giving you a 'no' because even though I don't feel that for you now, I can still learn to love you. You're the best thing that's happened to me since I lost everything, but I'm not ready to be with anyone yet. I haven't said 'no' because I can see myself with you in that way, but I haven't said 'yes' because I'm not ready." Brittany said, crying at this point.

"And why should I believe that you could see yourself with me? Every time I've brought it up, you just say 'maybe' in a condescending tone." Anna stated.

Brittany paused, both because she needed to calm herself down a little bit and because she didn't know what to say. "You should believe me because," she said, still thinking of how to finish the sentence.

"Because why? Why, Brittany? Why?" Anna demanded.

"Because, you've made me happier than I've been in a long time, okay?" Brittany finally stated. "Before I met you, I never thought I would ever be happy again. I never thought I'd smile again. I lost my entire family, I lost the one girl I've ever loved. I thought that no one would ever be able to make anything better for me because of how much I've lost." Brittany said, taking a deep breath before continuing. "But you, Anna? You just came into my life a little while ago and you've managed to help me smile again. You. That's why you should believe that you could have a chance with me." She said, looking away from Anna once she finished talking.

Both of them sat there silently for a while longer. Brittany finally spoke up about two minutes later. "So yeah uh, if you are still mad at me I understand." She said, sniffling and wiping away some of her tears from her cheeks. "I'm gonna go see if Dale and Sky need any help with lunch." She said, standing up and leaving the room with only Anna left, sitting on the couch.

Anna sat there, so many different emotions hitting her all at once. At one hand, she wanted to be angry at Brittany for not giving her a straight-up answer like she had asked. On the other hand, Brittany's reason for Anna to believe her was pretty damn genuine. "Ugh," Anna said, leaning back on the couch and closing her eyes. She truly didn't know what to do.

Dale and Sky were making the burger patties and getting them ready for the grill. "Is there anything I can do to help?" Brittany asked as she somberly walked into the room.

"Sure," Dale said, smiling at her to try and make Brittany's frown turn into a smile. "Could you wash and cut up some strawberries and maybe slice up the onions?"

"Yeah, okay." Brittany said, washing her hands before doing what Dale asked her to do.

Dale noticed that Brittany wasn't really focusing as she was cutting the strawberries, and that her eyes were red, like she had been crying. "Hey, Britt. Is everything okay? You look upset," Dale said, concern in her voice.

"What?" Britt asked, looking up from washing the strawberries. "Oh yeah, uh, I'm okay. It's nothing, I promise." She lied, just not wanting a lot of the attention on her. Britt then began to cut the ends off the strawberries, trying in anyways she could to not focus on the millions of problems she was having.

Brittany thought that Anna had been okay with just being friends. That's why she had suggested it. Right? Not to mention the nightmares she had every night, constantly reliving her horrific past. And on top of all that, they were waiting for the next shipment to come in, and Brittany didn't want to run into Heinrick for a while.

Ragsdale nodded and continued to make the burgers. "You know, if you ever want to talk about anything, you can talk to me. I mean, we haven't known each other for a while, but I'm always here to listen," Dale said, looking back over to Brittany.

"Me too," Skylar said as he seasoned the burgers.

"Thank you guys," Brittany said, nodding head before continuing to cut the strawberries.

Josh had just gotten back from a run and was on his way to take a shower when he spotted Anna, sitting by herself in the game room on the couch. He knew they hadn't talked since Anna's meltdown last night, but he just waved at her. "Hi," he said, in a concerned, older brother voice.

Anna looked up when she heard Josh's voice. "Hey," she said, smiling a little bit. "I'm really sorry that I yelled at you yesterday," the brunette said, biting her lip and looking down. "I know that you were trying to help, and I shouldn't have lashed out at you like that."

"Hey, don't worry about it." Josh said, flashing his friendly smile as he walked over to his younger sister and sat next to her on the couch. "You had every right to be upset, and I'm not hurt by you yelling at me." He said, placing his hand on her shoulder. "Now, do you want to talk? Or is it still not a good time?"

"I'll talk to you about it a little later. Right now I just need some time to think," Anna replied, smiling gratefully at her brother. "Thank you for being so understanding, Josh. I appreciate it."

"Hey, I made a promise to mom and dad that I would take care of you and be there for you." Josh said taking her hand. "That means both physically and mentally." He then got up and kissed the top of Anna's head before messing up her hair with his hand. "I'm going to go shower, don't overthink anything."

Once he was gone from the room, Anna sat there on the couch trying to think things out. So much was happening so fast, and the brunette wished that she could just take a step back from it all and relax. Other than Brittany, she had plenty of other things to stress about, like potentially facing Heinrick again. She knew without a doubt that if she did come across the leader of the Freedom Healers again, he would definitely try to kill her.

Anna stood up and walked out the back door onto the deck, deciding that some fresh air would help her calm down. The sun shined bright on the young brunette's face once she stepped out into the backyard. There was an old swing-set and jungle gym that she walked over, opting to sit on one of the swings and slowly swing back and forth.

Anna decided to take a couple deep breaths, closing her eyes and trying to let her mind drift for a little while. She held onto the chains attached to each side of the swing seat and leaned back, letting her weight sway her back and forth. Birds chirped up in the trees, and Anna smiled. She felt as if all her worries had somehow disappeared in that moment.

About five minutes into Anna's peaceful session of solitude, Dale opened the back door. "Hey Anna, lunch is ready."

The brunette got up from the swing and reluctantly walked inside. Once she had gotten there, everyone had their food and was sitting at the table. Except for Brittany. "Where's Brittany?" Anna asked with a stern yet confused look from the girl's absence from the table.

Everyone looked at each other and then they all looked back at Anna. "She felt like you were still upset with her, so she decided each her lunch in her room." Josh said, cringing slightly as he said that. "She didn't want to get into another screaming match with you and felt like it would occur if she ate out here."

Anna looked down, feeling a twinge of guilt. "Did she say anything else?" The brunette asked.

Josh shook his head. "No, she just took her food and went upstairs," he replied. Anna nodded, then sat down and began to eat her food in silence. She knew that she was the reason for Britt eating food in her room, and she got upset. Anna felt like they were back at the start, and it was all because she couldn't keep her stupid mouth shut and let Brittany's feelings be.

After lunch, Brittany came out and rinsed her dish off, putting it in the dishwasher. Dale came in and smiled when she saw Brittany. The first thing she said was, "Thank you for helping with lunch."

"It was great." Brittany said. "Thank you for making it. You guys have been so nice to me and I appreciate it."

"Oh you're welcome-" Dale started.

"But I think I should leave." Brittany said, shrugging awkwardly.

"What?" Dale said. "You're leaving? Why?"

"All I've managed to do is mess things up, I don't to be the reason any one of you gets hurt." Brittany said, thinking of Anna as she said that. "I've already ruined the best thing I've had since before I lost my family. So I'm just going to leave tonight, just don't tell anyone. Please."

Dale nodded, looking bummed that Brittany felt like she was sabotaging everyone in their little group. Once Brittany left the room, she went upstairs to pack. What she didn't know was that Anna had heard that conversation because she had heard Brittany's voice in the kitchen and stopped to listen. Britt's words stuck into her head. "All I've managed to do is mess things up….I've already ruined the best thing I've had since before I lost my family." Anna then felt more guilt get stuck into her chest like a sharp piercing pain of a knife. She had to find a way to stop Brittany from leaving that night, and to convince her to stay.

Anna went upstairs, standing outside Brittany's door for a few minutes before she finally knocked. A couple moments later, the door opened, and Brittany was standing in the doorway. "Uh, hey," Anna said awkwardly, "Can I come in?" She asked.

"Should I expect another interrogation from you?" Brittany asked, looking down at the ground.

"No, I just want to talk, I promise." Anna said. When Brittany didn't answer, Anna then said, "Cross my heart." She then made an x on her heart.

"Fine, come in." Brittany stated, letting Anna inside.

Anna noticed that Brittany had been packing, and she frowned a little bit. "I heard what you said downstairs when you were talking to Dale, and I just wanted to say that I don't want you to go."

"And why not Anna? Huh?" Brittany asked, turning and returning to her packing. "It feels like all I've done is hurt you, maybe it's for the best that I leave. I don't want to be the reason you're upset, and honestly that feels like what I've been doing. I tried to tell you why I couldn't give you a straight answer, and you just sat there. I've been on my own the past two years anyways. It would be better if I just left and you guys forgot about me."

"If you left, none of us would forget you. We'd all worry about you constantly, especially me. Yes, I've been getting upset lately, but that shouldn't be the reason that you leave the group. You're a good person, and a good addition to this group. We need you," Anna said, looking in Brittany's eyes. "I need you."

"Why do you need me Anna? All I've done is make you upset because you think I could never learn to love you, you think love is just instant and that I'm putting off a legit answer when you ask me if we could be something more." Brittany said, getting choked up and looking down at the ground. "All I've done is hurt you, so why do you need me to stay?"

"You didn't mean to hurt me, though. I know you well enough to know that you didn't want to hurt me. Sure, I am still hurt, but I would be a lot angrier if you were purposefully trying to hurt my feelings. Please, don't leave. You've been the one person other than Josh that I can really talk to," Anna said, taking Brittany's hand. "Yes, I would like to know what it's like to be with you; and it does hurt a little when you say 'maybe,' but I know for a fact that I would way more upset by you leaving than not getting a straight answer because at least you'd be here."

Brittany gulped back a lump in her throat. She looked down at their hands and saw how perfectly they fit together. The young girl then looked at Anna, realizing that if she left, it would hurt both of them. Because Anna was right when she had said that they were able to open up to each other. "I'll stay, as long as you can promise me that you'll be okay with waiting for me. And that you won't get angry with me if I tell you I'm not ready to give an answer."

"I promise," Anna said, noticing Brittany looking down at their hands. "All I want is for you to stay here. I'll do anything, anything to make sure that happens."

"You promise that you're okay with waiting for me?" Brittany asked, just wanting to make sure that Anna was telling the truth.

"I promise, cross my heart that I will wait for you." Anna said, crossing her heart once again before returning her hand to Brittany's. "Because I know, that you're worth the wait."

Brittany smiled softly. "Okay then. It's decided. I'm going to stay," the blonde said, making Anna smile as well.

"Good, because I wasn't going to let you leave anyways." Anna said, biting her lip and blushing.

Brittany blushed at this as well, glancing at the floor for a second. "So, we're good now?"

Anna nodded, smiling wider. "Yeah, we're good."

 **So... There may be a possibility for Anna to experience love. And it seems like Brittany may be developing feelings as well.**

 **Until next time,**

 **Elle and Gabi.**


	6. Chapter 5: While In Lincoln

Chapter 5: While In Lincoln

It had been a month since the group had arrived in Lincoln, Nebraska. They were unsure when the next shipment would be arriving, so they had to be prepared to go forward with the plan they had created at any moment.

Because they had to be prepared, the entire group had been training twice as hard. After Britt and Skylar had been captured in Tampa, they all agreed that they had to have better execution. Right now, Anna and Brittany were training in the weight room of Skylar's house, which was located in the basement.

Brittany currently was doing pull-ups and made it look effortless. Once she hopped down from the bar she started doing push-ups, sweat dripping from her forehead as she pushed herself to her limits. The chance to fight Heinrick and kill him to get vengeance on her family and Hadley was motivating her.

Anna would glance over and admire Britt as she worked out, but she currently running on a treadmill so she could only glance for a little while before returning to focus on the treadmill.

After she had been on the treadmill for a little more than a half hour, Anna stopped for a little breather. "How's it going over there, Britt?" She asked.

"Well, it's going pretty good," Brittany said as she continued to do push-ups, looking like a total badass. "I need to be ready when I see Heinrick again."

"You will be ready. I think you've been training harder than anyone else," Anna replied, taking a sip of her water bottle before going back to the treadmill.

"I know a lot of people want him dead, some would probably have more cause than me to do want him dead." Brittany said, walking with Anna back over to the treadmill.

"I doubt that, he's destroyed everything you hold dear." Anna said.

"He's done that to a lot of people what's he's done to me," Brittany added. "I just don't want anymore people to have to go through what I went through." She said, wiping the sweat from her face with a towel.

"And nobody else will have to go through that. We're gonna stop him once and for all," Anna said confidently. "I had one chance before and I missed it. I'm not gonna miss this second chance."

"I don't you to get hurt, I don't want you to have to go through what happened to me." Brittany said, taking Anna's hand.

"I won't get hurt. You and I, we're going to take him down so nobody else has to deal with him anymore." Anna stated, feeling her heart skip a beat when Brittany's hand came in contact with hers. "We're going to get through this, alive."

Brittany smiled. "We're going to get through this alive, and we're going to get through this together," the blonde said, squeezing Anna's hand gently.

Anna noticed this and smiled softly, squeezing Brittany's hand back for a few moments. After a few seconds, she let go. "I should probably get back on the treadmill. I need to work on my stamina."

"Yeah, of course." Brittany smiled at Anna and then taped up her hands before moving over to the punching bag. She began punching, regaining her focus and imagining she was beating the hell out of Heinrick.

Unlike previous times, Anna really focused while she was running on the treadmill, not letting Brittany distract her. "Come on, Anna. You can do it," the brunette said, encouraging herself as she was running. Brittany smiled as she listened to Anna as she talked to herself.

Josh came in and began warming up on the treadmill; while he was doing this, Brittany continued to punch the punching bag and Anna was turning up the speed on the treadmill. Brittany thought of what Anna had said. "You and I are going to take him down." This motivated her to punch and kick the bag even harder.

Anna looked over and saw that Josh was beginning to run on the other treadmill. Her brother looked over and they made eye contact. Anna nodded at him and then went back to her running. If there was any chance that she was going to take down Heinrick, she would have to be completely focused when that time came, so she might as well start practicing now.

After the workout, Brittany had taken a shower and had wrapped her hair and body in a towel. She was currently washing her face, standing in the bathroom with her towel on. She took the towel on her head off, letting her damp blonde hair fall. That's when Anna suddenly walked in, making Britt jump. Even though she was covered by a towel, Britt covered her body with her hands. "Oh, hi." She said.

Anna's face turned bright red, and she turned to walk out the door. "I'm really sorry. I didn't know you were in here. I wouldn't have walked in if I had known you were in here. I should've knocked. I'm really really sorry," the brunette rambled on, feeling extremely embarrassed.

Britt bit her lip, trying not to laugh. Anna was pretty cute when she rambled aimlessly. "Anna!" She said, interrupting the brunettes ramble. "It's okay, really. Don't worry about it, it could've been worse."

"How could this situation be more awkward?" Anna asked, still as red as rose.

"Well, you could've walked in on me completely naked." Britt said with a chuckle, finding the whole situation amusing.

"Okay, you do have a point there," Anna admitted, "But this is still really, really awkward." Anna's eyes narrowed when she saw Brittany biting her lip to keep herself from bursting out into laughter. "You find this whole thing hilarious, don't you?"

"Yeah, I kind of do." Brittany said, smiling widely, trying to keep her laughter under control. "My guess is besides you, you've never seen a girl naked." She said.

"And you have?" Anna asked.

Brittany raised her eyebrows at Anna. "Yes, but luckily I didn't scar you, did I? I think I intrigued you."

Anna once again blushed, turning her face away from Brittany so she wouldn't see just how red her face was. "N-no, not at all," the brunette stuttered.

"Liar," Brittany said with a chuckle before walking over to get her clothes off the counter. "Now get out of here so I can change." She said, still laughing at the situation.

Anna stood there for a moment, watching Brittany walk for a moment before being checked back into reality. "Y-yes, yeah. I'll just go." Anna said, mentally slapping herself when she turned around to walk out. Once she closed the door behind her she took a deep breath. "Shit," she muttered to herself. She had just seen Britt almost in her birthday suit. And what made the whole situation even more embarrassing was that Brittany was right, Anna was intrigued to see what she had under the towel.

That night Anna was sleeping in bed, and she had just started having a dream about Brittany. At first, it seemed like her brain was repeating the sequence of events that had happened earlier that day, but when Anna barged into the bathroom, Brittany wasn't wearing a towel. After her brain fully registered what she was seeing, Anna immediately woke up from the dream. She groaned, rubbing her eyes and then laying back down her pillow.

Anna decided to try and get her mind off it, so she got up and started walking around the house. She made sure that she was quiet so she wouldn't wake anyone up. Although when she made her way back up to her room, she heard Brittany groaning in her bed, her bed making noises as she tossed and turned.

Brittany was currently having another one of her nightmares. In this one, she was reliving the death of Hadley Alice Shaver, the one she had lost, her first love. She screamed loudly, which caused Anna to jump back in surprise. "NO! PLEASE! Don't hurt her!" She screamed. "Take me instead! But please don't hurt Hadley!"

That was when Anna burst through the door, running over to her bed and shaking her to wake her up. "Britt! Brittany wake up! It's just a dream! It's a dream! It's not real! I'm here! It's Anna and I'm here!"

Brittany's screams were replaced by sobs, and she wrapped her arms around Anna's waist, pulling her close. "I miss her so much," the blonde said, the raw emotion in her voice making Anna's heart hurt.

"I know," Anna whispered, holding Brittany close as she rocked her back and forth. "I know you do," Anna didn't know what else to say so she just comforted Britt and held onto her. "I can't imagine what you're going through, but just know I'm here. And know that I'm always going to be here for you when you need me. I won't ever leave you alone." She whispered soothingly into Brittany's ear.

Brittany continued to cry, her sobs getting quieter and quieter until they stopped altogether. The blonde sniffled as she wiped her tears away. "Uh, thank you for being here," she said, looking away from the brunette, "I really appreciate it."

"How long have you been having these nightmares?" Anna asked, pushing Brittany's hair out of his face.

"Since we last saw Heinrick," Brittany said, looking down and sniffling. "It usually shows what happened that night we escaped, or when he tortured me while I was there. I've also seen Hadley and my family's death multiple times."

Anna sighed, wiping some stray tears from Brittany face with her thumb. "Why didn't you say anything?"

"I didn't say anything because I didn't want you to worry about me, and I didn't want the other members of the group to think I was crazy or something," Brittany replied, slowly catching her breath.

"Britt," Anna said, tilting the blonde's chin up so they were looking into each other's eyes. "You can always talk to me. Always. Whatever you want to talk about, whenever you want to talk, I'm here for you."

Brittany got lost in Anna's eyes for a moment, just realizing how incredible blue they were. She smiled for a moment at the brunette, biting her lip and looking down at the ground for a short moment. "Thank you, Anna. I hope you know the same goes for you if you ever need to talk."

"I actually did want to ask you about a couple things. Since we agreed to be friends, is it okay if I ask you about what it was like to be in a relationship with someone?" Anna asked nervously, hoping Brittany would be okay talking about this.

"Yeah, sure. What do you want to know?" Brittany asked.

"How did you know when you loved Hadley?" Anna started out as Brittany made a spot on the bed for Anna to sit comfortably on.

Brittany paused before she answered, thinking about what she was going to say. "Well, I guess there wasn't really a specific moment when I realized. I think it was one of those things where I knew I had feelings for her ever since we met. She was one of the very few bright spots in my life which had become dark ever since the war," Brittany said honestly.

Anna nodded, biting her lip as she thought of her next question. "And what do couples do that ordinary friends don't really do? Like I know they kiss and have sexual relations, but what else do they do?"

Again, Brittany paused before she answered. "Well, Hadley and I did a lot of things that 'friends' do, since she was my best friend as well as my girlfriend. Our relationship wasn't really normal, since we were at the camp while we were together, but we spent as much time with one another as we could. We also would hold hands and cuddle each other at night, she liked to make sarcastic comments like you." Brittany said with a chuckle. "And she had the most amazing laugh." She said, smiling to herself. She wouldn't say this yet, but one of the main reasons Brittany hadn't said 'no' to Anna was because Anna reminded Brittany of Hadley in a few ways. One of them was Anna's eyes and her smile. But most of all her laugh, that's why she couldn't help but laugh whenever Anna did; it reminded her of Hadley so much that it was almost therapeutic.

Anna had one last question. "What is it like to kiss someone?"

"Honestly, I'm not really sure how to describe it, really. I feel like it's different for every person. In my experience, whenever I kissed Hadley, I always got this feeling of butterflies in my stomach. I felt as nervous as I was on the day we first met. Then after the butterflies go away, an overwhelming feeling of happiness and warmth takes its place," the blonde said, smiling softly.

"Wow," Anna said, mesmerized by Brittany's description of what a kiss is like. "I'd bet it's amazing."

"It is, it's one of the greatest sensations a person can ever experience if it's done right. With love and kindness." Brittany smiled at Anna's expression on her face. The girl looked absolutely mesmerized by the thought of a kiss. "I may have lost Hadley, but my mother would always say 'it's better to live a short life full of love than a long life without it.'"

"That's a pretty saying." Anna looked down at her hands for a moment. "You don't think I'm going to be the person to live life without ever experiencing love, do you?"

Brittany started shaking her head before Anna even finished her question. "Of course you're not going to live your life without ever experiencing love. You're an incredible person, Anna. People like you don't come around very often. Anyone with a brain can see that," Brittany said, smiling at the brunette. "I think that you'll definitely experience love. You just have to wait until you're sure that you've found the right person for you."

Unfortunately for Anna, she felt that she had already found the right person. The right person just didn't feel the same way. But instead of saying anything that she knew would start a fight, she just smiled and nodded. "Thanks, it means a lot to hear you say that."

Brittany nodded. "And if you ever have any other questions that you want to ask me, feel free. I'd be happy to answer them," she said to Anna.

Anna nodded, smiling at Brittany. "I should go get some more rest. I'll see you in the morning," the brunette said, smiling one more time at Brittany before leaving to go back to her own room.

Once Anna had left, Brittany sighed and covered her face in her hands, feeling a mixture of different things. First, she felt heartbroken from her nightmare, and second she couldn't help but think about Anna's eyes, and her laugh, and everything that reminded her of Hadley. And she was also thinking about how Anna's eyes went back and forth from her lips back up to her eyes; Brittany had used all her strength not to grab Anna and kiss her, partly because she could tell Anna wanted it too, but she didn't want to lead the girl on.

Anna sat down on her bed, thinking of the conversation she had just had with Brittany. Brittany had some good, thoughtful answers to the brunette's questions, but Anna knew that it would be awhile before Brittany felt the same way that she did. She sighed, leaning back on the pillows of the bed. While she knew that waiting would be hard, she had promised Brittany that she would wait for her, and that was a promise that Anna intended on keeping.

The brunette closed her eyes and began to fall back asleep. She had another dream, this time it just her and Brittany standing in an empty room. It was just them, and Brittany's hands were wrapped around Anna's shoulders. Anna looked at Brittany's eyes, which were looking at her lips. "Uh, hi," the brunette said, breaking the silence that filled the room. Brittany didn't answer her, still looking at her lips.

Brittany smiled and then finally looked back into Anna's eyes. "Hey," she said back. Anna felt her heart racing, and she gulped back the nervous feeling in her throat.

Anna placed her hands on Brittany's waist, pulling their bodies closer together slowly and gently. Anna's gaze flickered back and forth from Brittany's eyes down to her lips.

Brittany noticed this, and she bit her lip, smiling. "Well? What are you waiting for?" The blonde asked.

Once Britt gave her the green light, Anna leaned in and connected her lips with Brittany's. She felt the warmth and the butterflies that Brittany had told her about. Anna's eyes drifted shut as she leaned into the kiss more, enjoying the sweet taste and soft texture of Brittany's lips.

Brittany wrapped her arms around Anna's shoulders and pulled her close, kissing Anna back with love and passion. The kiss slowly started to get more intense, and Anna smiled, never wanting to wake up from the dream that she was in.

Unfortunately, she woke up a few minutes later. The brunette groaned, burying her head underneath her pillow.

She was woken up a few hours later by a loud knock at the door. Anna stood up and opened the door to her bedroom to find that both Josh and Skylar had been awakened by the knocking at the door. Anna grabbed a gun and cocked it while Skylar and Josh grabbed a bat.

The three of them walked to the door, opening it slowly. A young girl, around there age, was shivering from the cold. "Please, can you let me in? I've escaped from the Healers. I need a place to stay."

Anna looked at Josh and Skylar, who looked back at her with a mix of hesitation and uneasiness in their eyes. "How do we know that you're not a spy for the Healers?" Anna asked the girl, still holding her gun just in case she tried anything.

The girl held out her arm with a brand Heinrick had given her. It read the word "unwanted," he had branded this girl just like he had brand Brittany.  
"Please," the girl said. She had dark black hair and was African American. "My name is Ester."

"Heinrick is a racist asshole Anna, though I admire your need to protect everyone, I don't think that she's a spy for them." Skylar said. "How did you escape?" He asked Ester.

"I managed to slip past the guards last night. There was a break in the fence surrounding the camp, so that's how I got out," Ester answered. She was trembling in the cold and her teeth were chattering, making it apparent that she'd been outside for several hours.

"Alright, come on in. We'll get you some blankets and some food," Josh said, opening the door and stepping aside so Ester could come inside the house.

Anna made sure no one was behind her and then shut the door, locking it tightly. Josh got her a warm sweatshirt and sweatpants plus a fleece blanket while Skylar got some leftovers out of the fridge and heated it up in the microwave for Ester. "Did they say anything about a shipment coming in at one of the ports here in Lincoln?" Anna asked.

Ester shook her head. "Whenever the guards were around us, they didn't talk about that kind of stuff. I mean, whenever shipments did come in, they'd always send out a couple patrols to help the troops already there, but we never got any advanced notice or anything like that," she answered, gratefully taking the plate of leftovers from Josh when he brought it to her.

"Have they sent any patrols recently?" Josh asked, wrapping the blanket around her once she had the warm clothes on.

"No, not since I was there last. Although they did mention that some of Francis' assistants would be coming into town to crack down on the camps." Ester stated. "He's planning on wiping out everyone at that camp. I managed to get out with a few others but once we left we all went our separate ways. I saw this house was the first house that had any lights on and so I came to you guys."

Anna looked over at Josh. "If the patrols in the area are going to be increasing, we might want to start leaving the lights off. We've been fine until now, but as far as the Healers know, this house is abandoned. We don't want to give them any reason to come investigate," she said to her brother.

"I agree, from now on we may need to be more careful." Josh said, he then turned to Ester.

"We also need to break into that camp and get everyone out." Skylar said, handing Ester the leftover pasta from a couple nights before. "If what Ester's saying is true, they're going to kill everyone in that camp." He then looked at Ester as she ate the food. "Did you know anyone else in there?"

"My boyfriend and his family is there, and so is my little sister. They sent me to escape to go find help." Ester said.

"Fuck, we got to get everyone out of there." Anna stated. "But we need to be sly and stealth about it. We can't just barge in there. That got Brittany and I nearly killed."

Josh nodded, and there was a silence between the four of them as they thought of a plan. Suddenly, an idea came to Josh. "Hey Skylar?"

"Yeah?"

"When we first met, you were wearing a guard's uniform. Do you still have that with you?" Josh asked.

"Uh, possibly. Why do you ask?" Skylar replied.

"Well, Anna mentioned how we need to be stealthy. I was thinking that since you have the guard's uniform, maybe you can try to sneak into the camp. You know, like being a man on the inside," Josh suggested.

"Exactly, and he can act like he's leading people to execution when he's actually leading them to the hole in the wall Ester was talking about." Anna said. "We can all be waiting on the other side to get them all to safety."

Josh nodded. "Perfect. We'll have the truck ready to take people out. We can't fit them all in the truck, of course, and some of them might not even want to come with us. We should give them that option before we try to make them do anything."

"If you can just help me get my little sister and my boyfriend and his family out of there, I'll help you. My boyfriend Melieke and I want Francis and his Freedom Healers gone for good." Ester said, sitting up strong and tall.

"And we're doing all that we can to make sure that happens, while saving as many people as possible from that psychopath," Anna replied. The brunette held out her hand for Ester to shake, when she did, Anna nodded and smiled. "Welcome to the group, Ester. We're glad to have you join us."

"Thank you, it's good to be out of that hell hole." Ester said, shaking Anna's hand back in a genuine fashion.

Once Dale and Brittany had woken up, the other three introduced them to Ester and told them the plan for that night. Dale was finally fully recovered and ready to fight, so she would be coming on the mission with them.

"Alright, so are we clear? We're all going on the mission. Skylar is going to be infiltrating the camp, and we'll be in the truck ready to save the prisoners," Josh said. Everyone nodded. "Alright. In the event that we have more people leaving with the truck than there is room, maybe one or two of us will stay behind and act as cover for Skylar. Sooner or later, the Healers will figure out what we're doing. They're not the smartest, but they're not dumb either."

Once everyone had been debriefed on what the plan was, Brittany pulled Anna aside. "Can I tell you something?" She asked shyly.

Anna looked around, making sure that everyone else had gone to do their own thing so that they could have some privacy. "Uh, yeah. Sure. What is it?" Anna asked.

"I don't know if me going on this mission is a good idea." Brittany said.

"Why would you say that Britt? We need you, you're our best fighter." Anna stated.

"I've been having nightmares every single night, and I'm afraid if I go back to a camp so soon after the last time, I'll have PTSD and ruin the whole thing." Brittany said, fidgeting her fingers around.

"Hey," Anna said, taking Brittany's hands in hers in a way that reminded Brittany of Hadley's hands. So soft and smooth. "You're going to be okay, you have pushed through so much pain, you can do this." She then tucked Britt's hair back. "Just stay beside me, I'll help you get through okay?"

Brittany hesitated for a few moments, but then she nodded. "Thanks, Anna. That means a lot," the blonde said, smiling at the brunette.

Anna smiled back. "Now, you should go get some more rest if you can. We have a big mission tonight, and we all need to be in our best form."

That night, everyone got ready for the mission. Skylar put the Healers' uniform on while everyone got dressed for the weather and grabbed a bunch of weapons and ammo in case they needed.

Brittany was standing in her room, looking in the mirror and taking deep breaths, trying to keep calm.

Everyone except for Brittany had gathered downstairs. "I'll go get Brittany," Anna said, going upstairs and to the blonde's room. She knocked a few times on the door, and then opened it slightly. "Hey, Britt. It's showtime," the brunette said.

"Right, yeah." Brittany said. She finished putting her hair in a side braid and then turned to Beca.

"Huh, I've never seen your hair in a side braid." Anna said, smiling at the new look.

"I figured it was the best way to be able to wear a warm hat and to keep the hair out of my face." Britt said smiling sheepishly.

"Now that I think of it, that's actually a really good idea," Anna said with a chuckle. She had put her hair up into a bun and was wearing a beanie over it, but the bun made it look like there was a weird lump in the beanie. "I probably should have thought over my hair and hat choice before I made it."

Brittany laughed a little bit before walking over to Anna. "That's okay, I don't people around care about the hairdo and beanie you have going on if you're saving their lives." She said before taking a deep breath.

"You do have a valid point there," Anna said. "Now let's go save some lives and kick some Freedom Healer ass."

"You'll stay close to me, right? In case I have a meltdown?" She asked, taking a shaky breath as she thought of the possible outcomes of that night's mission.

"I promise," Anna replied, taking Britt's hand in hers. "Actually, I don't promise. I pinky-promise that I'll stay close to you throughout the whole mission," Anna said, linking her pinky with Brittany's.

"You're so weird," Brittany said, giggling a little bit at Anna's quirky personality. "But I love that about you."

Anna smiled, blushing a little bit at Brittany's words. "Yeah, I love that about me too," she said, making the blonde laugh out loud. "I've also been told once or twice that I'm an extremely humble person."

"Well you can count that out," Brittany teased, getting a playful slap from Anna.

"I know you think you're funny, but we should probably get going." Anna noticed Brittany instantly tense up, so Anna gave her a kiss on the cheek and then hugged the blonde girl close. "I promise you, I won't leave your side." She whispered gently in Brittany's ear.

Brittany's muscles relaxed when Anna said that, although she did also feel her cheeks turn red where Anna's lips had been. "Okay, let's do this."

Brittany and Anna went downstairs, joining the remaining members of the group. "Just one last check to make sure everyone knows the plan?" Anna said. Everyone nodded, eager to get the mission underway. "Alright then, let's roll everyone!"

 **And into the storm they head. We thought that Ester Dean would be a great addition to the group! Let know what you think so far! The next chapter is going to be full of plenty of drama! What did you think of the Sendrick moment's in the chapter? Because there were a lot of them! The best of "The Real Fight" is yet to come!**

 **Until next time,**

 **Elle and Gabi.**


	7. Chapter 6: Liberating Camp Lincoln

Chapter 6: Liberating Camp Lincoln

The drive over to the camp wasn't too chatty, Josh drove with Skylar sitting in the front seat next to him while Dale sat next to Ester and Anna sat with Brittany in the bed of the truck. Brittany looked up at the winter sky. She had seen holiday lights on the remaining houses that still had people living there. "I think it's around Christmas." She said, smiling as she saw some people still showing heart in their everyday lives. "Look at all the lights." She pointed them out to Anna, amazed by all of the different decorations. "I haven't seen these since before the war."

Anna nodded, smiling as well. "It's amazing how something as awful as the war still brings people together," she said, watching as the truck flew by the houses. Ester was directing them towards the camp, and eventually they got off the main road and started driving through the forest, both to avoid any Freedom Healer patrols and so that they could stealthily approach Camp Lincoln like they had planned to.

Once they made it to the spot Ester had talked about, they parked truck just inside the trees. Skylar made sure his uniform was on properly before grabbing a nightstick and a gun rifle. Dale walked up to him and helped him fix his hat. "Be careful," she said.

"I will be, I promise." Skylar said smiling at her.

Then suddenly Dale did something unexpected and kissed Skylar, taking everyone in the group, especially Skylar by surprise. Though it didn't take him very long to kiss her back, placing his hands on her waist while she cupped his cheeks.

When they broke the kiss, Dale blushed a little. "You better keep that promise."

Skylar was still was in a bit of a trance from the kiss but he nodded. "I will."

"Okay, now you better go before another patrol comes by this area," Dale said, smiling at Skylar. Skylar nodded, looking back at the group one more time before he crawled through the hole in the fence and was into the camp.

"And now we wait," Anna said, relaxing a little bit in her spot in the bed of the truck.

"And now we wait." Brittany repeated. The night was cold and as they waited for Skylars first group of prisoners a light snow began to fall. Brittany smiled, as it was the first time she'd ever seen snow in her life. "So this is what snow looks like." She said smiling.

"You've never seen snow before?" Anna asked.

"Anna, I'm from Florida. We get heavy rain." Brittany said with a chuckle.

"Isn't it funny how your last name is Snow and you've never seen it until now?" Anna said, smiling at the younger girl as she watch the snowfall in awe.

Brittany chuckled a little bit. "Wow, that was a real good one," the blonde said sarcastically.

Anna sensed the sarcasm in her voice, and she smiled. "Hey, I'm just trying to lighten the mood here." After a moment, Anna looked up at the sky. "It's definitely a cool sight to see."

"It's amazing how something so simple, is so beautiful." Brittany said, smiling up at the sky as the snow continued to fall.

Anna smiled at Brittany, gazing at her. She did this for a while before absentmindedly saying, "Yeah, it is pretty amazing." She said, not peeling her eyes away from Brittany.

"What is the most beautiful thing you've ever seen?" Brittany asked.

"If I told you, you'd call me a romantic cheeseball." Anna said, looking down for a moment.

"Maybe I like romantic cheese balls," Brittany replied, which made Anna blush. "Come on, just tell me what you were gonna say."

"Well, there's this girl, we met about a month and a half ago. She's my best friend. Maybe you know her. Gorgeous blonde hair and incredible blue eyes. And a smile that could cure cancer and her laugh could be cute for sadness." Anna said, looking down at the truck bed's floor with red cheeks, more from a blush. "It's you."

It was now Brittany's turn to blush. Anna's words were one of the greatest compliments she had ever received. "Th-thanks, Anna," the blonde stuttered, smiling shyly.

"I guessing yours is Hadley." Anna said, scratching her head and sniffling from the cold air.

"What?" Britt asked.

"The most beautiful thing you've ever seen." Anna answered. "You like to talk about how beautiful she was, so I figured that she was the most beautiful thing you've ever seen."

"Oh," Britt said quietly. She didn't really know how to answer that so she just said. "Yeah, she was and still is." She said, smiling sheepishly, feeling awkward whenever she talked about Hadley in front of Anna.

Anna nodded, looking away for a couple moments. She then looked up, hearing footsteps approaching them. She raised her gun, gesturing for everyone to be quiet. Once everyone was quiet, four people climbed out of the hole one by one.

"Melieke! Tyra!" Ester said, running her her little sister and her boyfriend's family. As they embraced each other, Brittany felt a little bit of pain in her stomach. She was happy that Ester was able to reunite with her loved ones, but it reminded her of the fact that she wouldn't see them again.

Anna noticed this and pulled Britt into a side hug, kissing the side of her head quickly. Skylar poked his head through the hole and Josh said, "Bring more at a time if you can. The more trips you take, the bigger chances we have of getting caught."

Skylar nodded and then headed back into the camp to get more people. Anna watched Skylar go back into the camp, and then she went back over to the truck. "Alright guys, you're going to have to squeeze in so we can fit as many people as possible," Anna said to Ester and her family. Brittany hopped out of the truck to make room for everyone in the bed of the truck.

It took about ten minutes before the next group of hostages came out of the hole. This time there were about fifteen of them. Josh gave them blankets and directions so they could head off to find shelter. "How many more are there Sky?"

"At least fifty man, this is going to take a while. Some of the people are just going to have to leave. We can fit as many people as we can in the bed of the truck but some of our group may need to walk back to the house once this is done." He stated.

"Alright, get back in there." Josh said, gesturing for Skylar to get going.

As time passed, more and more people started to escape the camp, but Anna grew more and more anxious. Surely the Freedom Healers would have figured out by now that almost half of their prisoners were missing. Something just didn't feel right, and the brunette was on edge because of it.

"Josh," She said, walking up to her brother. "We have to hurry. The Freedom Healers aren't this thick."

"Skylar is going as fast as we can Anna," Josh said, trying to reassure his sister. "It's going to be alright, we'll get everyone out and safe in time."

"How do you know that for sure? There's no way that almost half the prisoners have escaped without anyone noticing? We really need to wrap this up soon. We can't keep risking the safety of the group," Anna argued back, looking her brother in the eyes. "And you know I'm right. I want to help as many people as we can, but there has to be a line drawn somewhere."

Josh did know she was right, they had to speed up the process if this was going to be done safely. Then an idea popped into his head. "I'm going to go in and keep some of the Healers busy to buy Sky some more time. You, Britt and Dale are in charge here okay?"

At first Anna was reluctant to let her brother go, but she eventually nodded her head and gave him a hug. "Just, be careful in there."

Josh smiled at his younger sister. "When am I ever not careful?" He asked.

Anna raised an eyebrow at her brother. "Is that supposed to be a trick question?"

Josh chuckled. "I'll be careful, sis. I promise," he said before crouching to get through the hole in the fence.

"Is everything okay?" Brittany asked, walking up to Anna, waiting along side her for more hostages.

"Josh went in to buy time for Skylar." Anna stated, fidgeting with her fingers nervously. "I guess that it's a good idea since we need to get the people out quicker, but I'm just worried that something is going to happen to him. He's all I've had for the last seventeen years. I don't know what I'll do if something happens to him."

"He's going to be okay. Josh is one of smartest people in our group, he wouldn't do something if he didn't think it would work." Brittany said, taking Anna's hand in hers, squeezing it softly. "I'm right here if you need me, just like you're right here if I need you."

"Thanks," Anna said, smiling when Brittany took her hand. The brunette noticed that the clumps of people started escaping more frequently, which meant that Josh's distraction was working.

Soon, they were getting the last people out of the camp, but Josh still hadn't returned. "Skylar, do you know where Josh is?" Anna asked.

"Last I saw of him was when he came in to help distract the guards, I haven't seen him since." Skylar said.

As soon as he finished his sentence an alarm started sounding. "If he's not back soon Anna, we just need to go, we can't risk a large sum of people being hurt." Dale said.

Anna then looked at everyone else and then back at the wall. She waited another five minutes before she went to grab some hand grenades and extra bullets. "Where are you going?" Brittany asked.

"I have to go get Josh. I can't just leave him to die. If we leave without him, the Freedom Healers will definitely kill him. He's a good fighter, but there's no way he'll be able to take down all the guards in the camp," Anna replied, loading some more ammo into her pistol.

"Anna, you said you wouldn't leave my side." Brittany said nervously. "What if I have a panic attack? I'm going to need you here." She said, grabbing Anna's hand while her fear grew. A few tears glistened in her eyes. "Anna, Anna please don't go in there."

Anna bit her lip when she saw the tears welling up in Chloe's eyes. "I know I told you that I'd stay by your side, but I have to get my brother. Please, you know I have to do this. He's been protecting me for my entire life, the least I can do is to help him when he needs it. I promise I'll be okay. If you're worried that you'll have a panic attack, you can stay with Dale or Sky or Ester. I hate to do this to you, but I have to get Josh."

As much as she hated to admit it, Britt knew Anna was right and she needed to let Anna go find her brother. She leaned their foreheads together for a moment closed her eyes. "Just promise me that you'll come back." She whispered, her eyes still closed as she spoke.

"I pinky-promise that I'll come back to you," Anna replied, linking their pinky fingers together for a moment. "I have to go now or else I might miss my chance," Anna said, reluctantly walking away from Brittany and towards the hole in the fence.

Once she was inside, Anna instantly headed down the hallway in front of her. She saw bodies of Healers and followed them, knowing that this was Josh's doing. Anna kept her gun up and carefully walked through the halls, listening carefully for sounds.

The brunette continued to follow the trail of bodies, going down a couple flights of stairs before she reached a long, dark hallway. There was a single door at the end of the hallway, and the trail of bodies lead up to the door. Swallowing the lump in her throat, Anna held her gun up in front of her, slowly walking towards the door.

Once she opened the door, Anna saw Josh looking at a computer with a look of horror on his face. While she was relieved to see he was okay, she wondered what he was seeing. "Josh?" She said. "Josh come on we need to get out of here."

"Anna," he said turning to her and then looking back at the screen. "I think I found Mom and Dad." He said before moving out of the way so Anna could see.

The young girl walked up and looked at the screen in shock. Heinrick was in the video, interrogating James and Joan Kendrick. The date of the video was very recent, no more than a month ago.

Anna put her hand over her mouth. "What the hell am I looking at?" She said to herself, watching as Heinrick questioned her parents. "Why is he interrogating Mom and Dad? What could he possibly want from them?"

"Mom was an agent for the government, he could be using her as intel from people trying rebel. As for Dad, I don't know-" Josh looked on in terror.

"Where was this video taken?" Anna asked, fear striking her heart.

"Probably in the capital." Josh said. "That's where Heinrick keeps all his highly dangerous 'criminals.' He's probably kept mom and dad there for years."

Meanwhile outside, Brittany was pacing back and forth to keep calm. "Where are they? They should be here by now. Anna and Josh should be out here by now."

Sky came and put a hand on Brittany's shoulder to help calm the blonde down. "I'm sure they're fine, Britt. They're probably just kicking some Freedom Healer ass, and they'll be back here soon."

"We have to go get Mom and Dad, Josh. We know where they are. This is the most concrete lead we've ever had!" Anna exclaimed, continuing to watch the footage of the interrogation. "We've never been this close to finding them before."

Josh sat there for a moment, a sad smile on his face. "We could get our parents back." He said smiling.

"We have to get to the capital."

"What about the shipment? It still hasn't come in yet here, we need to stop it." Josh stated.

"Josh, the shipment shouldn't matter right now! We can get Mom and Dad back. Shouldn't that be our top priority?" Anna replied.

Before Josh could say anything in response, multiple pairs of loud footsteps began to echo from the hallway. "Oh shit," Josh said, pulling out his gun and frantically searching for more ammo. "Anna, I don't have any ammo, what the hell do I do?"

Anna only had her pistol with her, along with a few grenades. "I only have my pistol, but I also have grenades. I'm not sure how much they'll help, though. We don't want to blow ourselves up."

Josh saw one of the unconscious soldiers lying behind him and he grabbed the machine gun in his hands, as well as a couple knives. He then nodded at Anna and they got ready to fight.

Back outside in the cold, Brittany could feel her heart pick up speed gradually as more time went by without Anna or Josh showing up. "They should be here by now."

Dale and Skylar were starting to get nervous as well. "If they don't show up soon, we'll have to go. We can't risk keeping these people out in the cold any longer. We can always come back for them, we just have to make sure we get Ester and her family to safety before we do so."

Brittany thought about it for a moment, looking towards the wall and then back at Dale and Skylar. "Get them all to safety. I'll wait here for them."

"But what about you Brittany? You could get caught." Ester said.

"I'm not leaving An-" Brittany started. "I'm not leaving them behind." She then helped a couple people into the truck. "I'll stay here, you get everyone out of here!"

"Okay, but be careful. We'll come back for you as soon as we can," Dale said, hurrying to the driver's side of the truck. She got in, and Skylar got in the passenger's seat, and the truck started to drive away into the woods.

Down in the computer lab, Anna and Josh were fully engaged against the ten Freedom Healer soldiers that had somehow managed to find them. Josh had made quick work of a couple with the machine gun, but he soon ran out of ammunition, so he was fighting with the knives. Anna on the other hand was facing three men at once, doing her best to stay on her feet while they all threw punches at her.

Josh took down the rest of his guys and then took one of Anna's guys out by stabbing him in the back.

Anna shot one the men in the knee and then knocked him out with her knee. "Let's get out of here before more of these goons show up." She and Josh then made a run for it as the alarm continued to sound.

Skylar and Dale hopped into the truck and made sure they had a lot of people in the truck. Sky then put the car in drive and drove out into the night, away from the camp. "I really hope Anna and Josh are alright." He said as he drove onto a dirt road.

Anna and Josh had killed all ten of the Freedom Healers, or so they thought. The one that Josh had stabbed in the back was somehow still alive, and he managed to pull out a remote that he had been keeping in his pocket which had access to the camp's emergency self-destruct system. With his last few moments, he pressed down on the self-destruct button before taking his last breath.

While Anna and Josh were running, all of a sudden the siren stopped. It was replaced by a low-pitched beeping sound. "Camp Lincoln will self-destruct in 30 seconds," a monotonous voice announced.

Anna looked over to Josh, her eyes widening. "Run!" She screamed. The two of them sprinted as fast at they could, weaving their way through the dead bodies on the floor.

When Brittany heard the self destruction announcement was when her panic attack started to happen. She could feel her heartbeat shoot through the roof and she began to hyperventilate and scream, seeing images of Hadley laying there on the ground, bleeding out in front of her. "Help! Somebody help me! PLEASE!"

Anna could feel time slow down as they made their way to the break in the wall, Josh jumped through first but Anna was still making her way there since she wasn't as fast as Josh. "Five, four, three," the voice counted down.

By the time the voice reached "one" Anna had barely made it past the central building, which exploded first. There was a deafening sound as one by one, each of the buildings exploded. Anna covered her ears, continuing to run towards the hole in the fence. She could make out two figures which she assumed were Josh and Brittany. However, right as she leaped for the hole, the ground underneath her shot up in the air, carrying Anna with it. Where the ground used to be, a large sinkhole was forming, created by the mass explosions.

As Brittany saw this, she ran towards the collapsing building. "Anna! ANNA!" She yelled, hot tears falling down red winter cheeks. "NO! ANNA!" She screamed. Josh came up and grabbed Brittany from going towards the explosion even though he too desperately wanted to go get his sister.

Skylar and Dale as well as everyone else in the truck heard the explosion. "Shit," he said to himself, though he continued to drive to the safe spot.

"Let me go!" Brittany yelled, trying to get free of Josh's grip. "Anna! ANNA! I need to get Anna!"

Josh had to give the blonde some credit, she was a lot stronger than he had anticipated. He practically had to drag her away from the fence. "Brittany, stop! Stop!" He said, barely holding onto her. "I want to get Anna too, but we can't! We have to go!"

Brittany made it nearly impossible for Josh to drag her away, scraping her hands and knees against the rocks on the ground.

Once the sinkhole had settled from the explosion and Josh had gotten Brittany into the woods she started pushing Josh and screaming at him "She said she wouldn't leave me! The she went in to find you! And now she's gone! We should never have come here! If we hadn't she'd be okay!" She said. "I have to go find her, I can't lose her!"

Josh stopped struggling, allowing Brittany to get free from his grip. "You can go look for her, but I don't think you'll find her," he said with a solemn tone of voice. "You saw what I saw. We just have to accept that she's gone."

"How could you say something like that?" Brittany said, getting choked up. "She's your sister! She'd go and look for you if this was the other way around." Tears were filling her eyes. "No, I'm not letting this happen again."

"LET IT GO BRITT!" Josh yelled. He had tears in his eyes and he surprised Brittany with his tone of voice. "She fell with the fucking sinkhole! There's nothing we could've done to save her and there's nothing we can do, she's gone." He said, beginning to cry. "She's gone."

That's when Brittany fell to the cold ground, beginning to sob and cry hysterically. Tears fell down her cheeks in rivers from both of her eyes. "No," she cried. She hit the ground in sadness and frustration. "She can't be gone. Anna can't be gone."

"She is gone," Josh said, his voice cracking on the last word. "Let's go, Brittany. There's nothing else we can do," he said, offering a hand to the blonde. She didn't take it, so he grabbed her arm and pulled her up. "We're going to the safe spot to meet the rest of the group and tell them what happened."

Brittany cried into his chest, holding onto him tightly, knowing nothing would be able fill the void. That nothing and no one would ever be able to replace Anna.

 **Hey! Sorry for the drama in this chapter! But don't despair, we said Sendrick would be endgame right?**

 **Until next time,**

 **Elle and Gabi.**


	8. Chapter 7: Always

Chapter 7: Always

Josh and Brittany walked back to the safehouse in silence, both of them still processing what had just happened. Josh felt an overwhelming feeling of numbness. He didn't want to believe that his sister was really dead, but he didn't want to get his hopes up either. He had seen her fall into the sinkhole after the explosion; there was no way of knowing if she had survived the initial explosion, not to mention the fall into the hole. He hadn't felt this type of aching in his heart since he had to leave his parents seventeen years ago.

And he had just found out that his parents were alive. If he ever saw them again, how was he going to face them? How was he going to look them in the eyes and say that he had failed to protect Anna?

Brittany's eyes were stained red from crying, the occasional tears still falling down her cheek. Of all people in the group, Anna was the one person that was always there for Brittany when she needed a support. Now she was gone.

After they walked for around twenty minutes, they finally reached the safehouse. Josh slowly walked up to the front porch and knocked on the front door. The door was almost immediately opened by Skylar. "There you are! We've been waiting for you guys forever!" He immediately saw the look on their faces, completely numb of emotion and their eyes stained red from crying. "What happened? Where's-" his sentence was cut off with the realization.

"Some soldier hit the self destruct button while Anna and I were on our way out." Josh said as they walked inside to find Dale, Ester and Melieke sitting on the couch. "I got out just in time, but Anna didn't make it before the explosion."

"Oh my god," Skylar said, running his fingers through his hair. "I-I don't know what to say. I'm so sorry, Josh. I really am."

Josh nodded, a fresh wave of tears welling up in his eyes. "I just don't know what to do now. I failed her. I failed my parents. I promised that I'd take care of her when they weren't here, and I failed."

There was an uncomfortable silence, everyone trying to process what had just happened. After a while, Josh said, "I'm just going to try and get some sleep. Might as well try." He said. Dale walked up and gave him a hug.

"We're here if you need anything, okay?" She whispered, holding back tears.

"Thanks," Josh said before going upstairs to his room.

Brittany went into Anna's room and sat on her bed, letting the tears begin to fall. There was a soft knock at the door. Dale opened the door and stepped inside the room. "Hey, Brittany, how are you holding up?" She asked, although she already knew what the answer to that question was.

"I just lost the one person I thought would help me learn to love again," Brittany said, the lump in her throat growing. She held one of Anna's hats in her hands, trying not to cry. "How do you think I'm doing?"

"Right. That was a pretty stupid question, now that I think of it," Dale said. There was an awkward silence between the two. "You know, Anna really did love you. We all could see how much she cared about you."

"She deserved better than damaged goods like me." Brittany said, wiping her tears to make room for more that began to fall. "She loved me and I was too much of a coward to love her back. I told her that she would experience love, now she'll never get too because I was too scared to let her love me."

"You made her really happy, even if she never was in a relationship with you. I was with the group for a little while before you came along, and I've never seen Anna more happy than she was with you," Dale said. "Did, I mean, do you love her?" She asked, walking over and sitting next to Brittany.

"I was just starting to get over losing Hadley, I wasn't ready to fall in love or be with someone else." Brittany said, looking down the hat in her hands.

"You don't get to choose when you fall in love." Dale said. "If you did you wouldn't be human."

Brittany thought about it for a moment, thinking about all the times Anna had made her heart skip a beat. She then snapped back into reality. "Even if I do love her, and I'm not saying I am in love with her; there's nothing I can do about it, she's dead."

"I'm sorry for your loss," Dale said, looking at Brittany who had a sad expression on her face. "I know that she meant a lot to you, and you also meant a lot to her."

"I just wish that-" Brittany started. "I just wish that I could feel her arms around me one more time." She said, crying and falling into Dale's arms, sobbing into her shoulder.

Dale began to slowly rock Brittany back and forth in her arms to soothe the blonde. "It's going to be okay, Brittany. We're all going to get through this together, I can promise you that." Brittany wished that she could believe that she was going to get through this, but after everything she'd been through, it was just kind of a hard thing to picture.

However, back at the explosion site, some of the lightweight rocks began to stir. Contrary to the beliefs of everyone, Anna Kendrick was still very much alive after the explosion and falling into the sinkhole. She hadn't gotten out unscathed, however: there were small cuts on nearly every inch of skin that was visible, and there was a rather large rock that had fallen on top of her ankle. She was able to use her arms to push off some rocks that had been on her other leg, and she sat up, rubbing her eyes and taking in a shaky breath. She was alive.

As soon as she took a few deep breaths, her mind went straight to Brittany. She had to get back to Brittany and Josh and see if they were okay. Anna began to move, but winced in pain as she tried to get her foot out from under the huge rock. "Ow, ow, ow!" She cried out, tearing up a little from the pain. The brunette continued to try and get her foot out from under the rock, but the pain always proved to be too much.

Finally, she decided enough was enough. "Screw this. I have to get to Brittany and Josh, and this stupid rock won't stop me," Anna said to herself. She gritted her teeth and used all her strength, shoving the rock off of her foot and down towards the bottom of the sinkhole. A couple tears fell down her face, but the hard work was done. Now she just had to figure out how to get herself out of the sinkhole. The young brunette looked around her, searching for her way out.

Once she found a relatively easy path out she began to climb, trying not put too much pressure on her leg as she made her way up the rocks. There were points as she climbed where her foot hurt so bad she thought she wouldn't be able to continue; that's when she would think of her brother, or Brittany, and that would motivate her enough to help her keep going until she finally reached the top of the sinkhole. She then began to make her way back to the safehouse; Anna was limping a lot with her bad foot, which she was pretty sure had a few broken bones in.

The safehouse wasn't terribly far from the camp, or what used to be the camp, but Anna's foot injury made it take twice as long as it would have. She stopped every once in awhile to catch her breath and wait for the pain in her foot to subside before she continued walking. Halfway through, she found a pretty solid stick that she began to use as both a walking stick and a crutch to help her.

It was nearing sunrise and Anna began to feel her stomach growl. She made her way over to the grocery store that Dale had been getting all of their food from and grabbed a pack of chocolate doughnuts. She then continued to limp, hoping the journey to the safehouse wasn't much farther.

Anna sighed with relief when she reached the outskirts of town and spotted the safehouse, which was at the end of the block. She felt adrenaline rush through her veins, and she started to walk a little bit faster, her limp becoming more pronounced as she did so. The adrenaline made the pain go away, however, so she didn't find it that hard to move. Soon, Anna was standing in front of the safehouse, a small smile on her face. She went up to the front door and knocked a couple times.

Josh and Brittany had been grieving by sleeping all morning. Britt had slept in Anna's bed after just falling asleep there, trying to picture her best friend right beside her.

Skylar and Dale were up making breakfast for everyone when they heard the knock. "I'll get it." Sky said.

"Be careful." Dale called after him.

"Don't worry, I will be," Skylar said, taking out a small knife as he walked over to the door. He unlocked it and slowly opened it, then gasped when he saw who was standing outside on the porch.

"Surprise," Anna said with a raspy voice and a half-smile.

"Anna? Oh my god!" He said before giving her a hug.

Josh was just walking down the stairs when he look over at Skylar. "Who's here?" He asked. Skylar looked at him and smiled before stepping out of the way, showing a beaten up yet alive and well sister of his.

Anna chuckled at the look of shock on her brother's face. "Oh, come on, Josh. Did you really think an explosion would take me down? You know I'm a lot tougher than that," the brunette said.

Josh ran up to his sister and hugged her tightly. "You asshole," he said. "You scared the shit out of me, I thought I lost you!" He whispered, holding her for a long time as Dale came out and smiled with relief.

They all shared the group hug when Anna asked, "Where's Brittany? Is she okay?"

"She's still sleeping. I'll go get her and you go have a seat in the living room." Dale said after they all gave Anna another hug.

Dale ran up to Anna's room where Brittany was staying. "Britt, honey there's breakfast downstairs." The 24 year old said, being answered by a groan from Brittany. "Come on, there's a surprise."

"I'm not hungry, and I don't want a surprise," Brittany replied, her voice muffled by her pillow.

"Trust me, Britt. You want this surprise," Dale said.

The younger blonde groaned loudly before getting up. "Fine but this better be worth it or I'm going back to sleep for the rest of the winter." She said.

Skylar kept cooking while Josh sat with Anna in the living room. "How did you even survive Anna? That must've been at least a thirty foot fall, not mention hundreds of pounds of rocks falling on you."

"Honestly? I have no idea how I survived." Anna said, shrugging her shoulders and laughing. "All I know is that I am alive."

"Well, I'm glad you're okay," Josh said.

"Yeah me too-" Anna started.

"Anna?" A voice called out. Brittany had nearly fainted from disbelief when she saw the brunette sitting there on the couch. "Anna," she said, tearing up.

"Hey," Anna said, standing up and opening her arms. "Can I get a hug from my best friend?" Brittany instantly ran into Anna's arms, holding her close. The blonde girl began to cry into Anna's t-shirt, not ever planning on letting go.

Anna smiled, wrapping her arms around Brittany's waist. "I promised you that I was going to come back to you, didn't I?" She whispered in her ear.

Brittany just held onto Anna and continued to cry from both happiness and relief. The rest of the group decided to give them a moment to themselves, leaving them alone in the living room. "You were dead, you were gone." Brittany cried.

"I never was gone, Brittany. Even if I did die, I wouldn't be 'gone.' I'm always going to be with you, even if I'm not physically there," Anna said softly. She held onto Brittany, swaying slowly, back and forth. "I made a promise, and I don't break my promises."

Brittany pulled back from the hug and just looked in Anna's eyes, her eyes were the most incredible shade of blue and Brittany found herself getting lost in them for what seemed like the millionth time. Brittany was about to lean in and kiss Anna but she stopped herself and cleared her throat. "I-" she didn't know what to say.

"What is it Britt?" Anna asked, wondering what the younger girl was going to say next.

"I'm glad that you're alive." Brittany said, slapping herself on the forehead mentally when she said that. "Just, try not to scare me like that again."

"Don't worry, I'm not planning on almost dying for a long time," Anna replied, smiling at Brittany. Anna then went and sat down on the couch, patting the spot beside her for Brittany to sit.

Josh looked on from the kitchen, watching the two young girls talk as they sat on the couch next to each other. He couldn't help but notice the way Brittany was looking at his sister. The young girl was gazing at Anna like she was the most beautiful human being in the world. And he noticed Anna was looking at Britt in the same way. It almost reminded him of the way his parents used to look at each other.

"Do you think they're in love?" Josh asked Dale.

Dale looked over at Anna and Brittany in the next room. "Well, if they aren't in love, then they certainly act like they are," Dale said.

"I know Anna haven't really had the chance to experience romance in our lives, so I'm not an expert." Josh said, looking back at Dale for a moment. "But when they're with each other, I've never seen Anna's smile so wide."

"I think they do feel that way for each other. I talked to Brittany last night and she was utterly heartbroken when she thought Anna had died." Dale stated, cutting up some strawberries. "She slept in Anna's bed and held the pillow in her arms. If that isn't love, I don't know what is."

Josh nodded. "I just wonder how long it's going to be before Brittany tells Anna how she feels. There's been a couple of moments where it looked like she would, but then she ended up saying something else."

"Well, Brittany has gone through a lot when it comes to love." Dale said, putting strawberries in a fruit salad. "She watched Hadley die right in front of her. It can be hard to recover from that. I think Britt knows she's in love with Anna, but saying 'I love you' is difficult. Especially when you thought you'd only ever say it to one person."

"I see your point." Josh said, glancing over at Brittany and Anna. "I guess it just feels like she's afraid to fall in love again. I think she's afraid that something will happen to Anna like it did to Hadley."

"I think Anna's proven that she's not going down easy," Dale said with a chuckle. "I mean, we all thought that she was gone, and then she turned up the next day."

Josh looked over at his sister, a small smile appeared on his face. "Yeah, she's tough. That's for sure."

Later that day, Brittany was tending to Anna's wounds. She had put some bandages gauzes on Beca's scrapes and cuts. Now she was wrapping Anna's ankle, making sure to be gentle as she did so.

After her ankle was wrapped, Anna slowly stood up and tried to walk. She did have a limp, but it wasn't terribly bad compared to how bad it could've been. "Don't push yourself too hard." Brittany stated. "You've been through a lot in the last twenty or so hours."

"It's alright," Anna said. "The pain isn't that bad, I'm a tough girl."

Brittany chuckled at this as Anna walked around. "Yes, you are a very tough girl. You have managed to prove that."

"Manage to prove that?" Anna asked with a chuckle. "I think that surviving an explosion and climbing out of a sinkhole is a little bit more than 'managing to prove that."

"You've also managed to prove that you can scare the shit out of everyone here." Brittany added, smiling and laughing at her friend.

"Hey, I'm not dead." Anna said.

"No, but you came damn near close." Brittany stated, biting her lip nervously.

"Well, I didn't die. That's what matters most," Anna said. She yawned a little bit, covering her mouth with her hand. "I should get some sleep. I'll see you in the morning."

Brittany looked down for a moment and sniffled, then yawning as well. "Will you- nevermind." Brittany shook her head.

"What is it?" Anna asked. "You can ask me anything."

"Will you sleep in my bed with me tonight?" Brittany asked shyly, not making eye contact with Anna.

"Uh, yeah. Sure. If you want me to. Why do you ask?" Anna said, a bit surprised by Brittany's request.

"I wasn't able to fall asleep last night without having a nightmare about losing you." Brittany stated. Damn she had fallen hard for this girl, if only she would admit it. "And I just wanted to have you there."

"Oh," Anna said.

"If you don't want to, I understand." Brittany said, looking down. "Actually, forget that I asked." She then quickly got up and walked over to her room and got into bed, mentally slapping herself at what had just come out of her mouth in the last five minutes. She could feel herself blushing a bright shade of red.

A couple minutes later there was a knock on Brittany's door. "Britt, open up." Anna called out. There was no response. "I just was asking why you wanted me to sleep in your bed tonight. I never said I didn't want to. I just wanted to know. Please open up."

Brittany got up and walked over to the door, biting her lip and looking down. "So you will stay with me tonight?"

"Of course." Anna said smiling. "I know that your PTSD causes you to have the nightmares, so if there's something I can do to make your nightmares less bad or stop them altogether, then I'll do what I can."

Brittany smiled and then let Anna into her room. Brittany climbed into bed and then opened up the covers for Anna, who climbed in and then lay there next to Brittany. The blonde girl rested her head on Anna's chest. "Anna?"

"Yeah?" The brunette girl asked.

"Have you wanted to kiss me for a while?" She asked.

Anna felt her face turn bright red. "Uh, well, I don't know. I guess so. Yes?" Anna replied, mentally facepalming for how stupid that answer sounded out loud.

"It's just- I've been thinking." Brittany said. "You asked me what it's like to kiss someone a couple days ago."

"Okay?" Anna said, a little confused.

"I'm not quite ready to be with someone yet, but I just want to make sure that your first kiss is from someone who cares about you deeply." Brittany said, looking up at Anna. "Is that okay?"

"I, uh-" Anna said, looking away from Brittany. "I don't know." There was an awkward silence between the two. "I'm afraid that if you kiss me, I'll just want you more, but I can't have you." Anna said quietly.

"No, no it's okay." Brittany said. She then looked down and then bit her lip. "I shouldn't have suggested it in the first place." She said, a bit disappointed because she had wanted Anna to say yes.

"You don't have to apologize for suggesting it. It was a thoughtful gesture, and I appreciate it. I'm just not sure if it would be a good thing, especially since you're not ready to be with someone. I feel like I would have tried to pressure you into a relationship before you're ready," Anna replied.

"Is that what you want? To be with me?" Brittany asked.

"Of course it's what I want. I'm in love with you, Brittany, and I'll wait as long as I have to until you feel the same way." Anna tucked some of Brittany's hair back.

The younger girl felt a bit guilty, partially for making Anna wait, but mostly because she knew she felt the same way. But she was was too scared to say anything. Brittany looked away from Anna, tearing up but trying her best to hide the tears.

"So...we should probably get some sleep now," Anna said awkwardly, turning over ok her other side so she was facing away from Brittany. "Goodnight, Britt."

"Goodnight, Anna." Brittany said, trying to make it sound like she wasn't crying.

Before Brittany could fall asleep, Anna had one last question. "Hey Britt? Do you think that you'll ever actually fall in love with me?"

Brittany felt her heart stop, wondering why she couldn't just say what she felt in that moment. "I-" she started. She already did love Anna. "Yes, I do." She whispered. "Because I-" she sat up and looked out the window before she said it.

"Because I already do love you." She said in a barely audible voice.

Anna had heard everything that Brittany had said up until that last sentence. "What did you say? I couldn't hear you," the brunette said, leaning in closer.

"I already love you, Anna." Brittany said. "I have for a while now." She whispered, just loud enough for Anna to hear this time.

Anna was silent for a moment, her brain processing what Brittany had just said. "Y-you already love me?" The blonde slowly nodded her head. "Then why didn't you just tell me?"

"I was scared that once I told you how I felt, something would happen and you'd be gone." Brittany said, ashamed of herself. "That's what happened with Hadley. I told her I loved her and then she was killed not two days later." She said tearing up. "I was scared if once I told you, I'd lose you."

"You're not going to lose me, Britt. I promise. I'm never going to leave you, okay?" Anna said, looking in the blonde's eyes. "Do you believe me?"

Brittany looked up at Anna, who was looking into her eyes. "I believe you." She said softly. "I do, I believe you."

Anna smiled. "Good, because it's true. I'm never, ever, ever, ever going to leave you. I pinky-promise you that."

After a moment of silence passed between the two of them, Brittany spoke up. "Can I give you your first kiss now?" She asked.

Anna blushed, smiling and nodding her head. "I'd really like that," she murmured, smiling shyly.

Brittany then turned her entire body towards Anna. She took a deep breath and bit her lip, smiling at Anna. "Just take a deep breath." She whispered. "You ready?" She asked. When Anna nodded, Brittany put her hand on Anna's neck. She then leaned in slowly and connected her lips with Anna's.

Anna started to experience some of the things that Brittany told her about: she felt as though millions of butterflies were flying around her stomach, and then they suddenly stopped. The brunette started to feel warm inside, and she smiled against Brittany's lips.

Brittany could feel her heart beat happily, she was kissing Anna. And it was amazing. When she pulled back and smiled at Anna. "Was that okay?" She asked. Anna answered by leaning in and kissing her again.

"That was more than okay, Britt," Anna murmured once she pulled away, opening her eyes. "That was absolutely incredible. Thank you."

"I love you, Anna." Brittany whispered, leaning in once again. Anna's lips were the softest lips she'd ever tasted. They were so sweet and smooth, and Brittany couldn't get enough.

"I love you too, Brittany," Anna said, smiling as the blonde's lips came into contact with her lips for the third time. She'd never been happier than she was in that moment, holding Brittany in her arms with their lips moving together in sync. Brittany lay down on the bed, allowing Anna to straddle her.

Her hands ran up and down along Anna's sides, but she made sure to go slow. Not wanting to push Anna to do anything more than just make out a little. Anna smiled as they continued to kiss, running her fingers through Brittany's hair. "Is this okay?" She asked the blonde.

"Yes, it's wonderful." Brittany murmured, letting Anna figure things out. "You're doing very well, Anna." She whispered, tucking some of Anna's long brown hair away from her face as they continued to kiss.

"Okay, awesome," Anna whispered back, pulling away from the kiss to catch her breath. She smiled down at Brittany. "I love you. A lot."

"And I love you a lot too, Anna Kendrick." Brittany whispered, gazing up at the girl in front of her. "I fell for you as soon as you had saved me from Heinrick back in Tampa."

"You already know that I fell for you pretty quickly after you joined the group," Anna said with a laugh. "I just couldn't help it; you were, and are, so irresistible to me."

"What made me so irresistible?" Brittany asked as they lay down on their sides, facing each other.

"Where do I even start?" Anna asked with a smile, taking Brittany's hand in hers and linking their fingers. "Everything about you is just so...perfect," she said, looking into Brittany's blue eyes. This made the younger girl blush slightly, looking down as her cheeks turned red.

"I'm not perfect… I'm nowhere near perfect. Anyone can a look at me and my life and see that I'm not perfect." Brittany said, looking down.

"Hey," Anna said, tilting Brittany's chin up so they made eye contact once again. "You are perfect to me. You are the most flawless human being ever, and I love you with my whole heart," she murmured.

"No matter what I say, you're always going to say that you think I'm perfect aren't you?" Brittany said, smiling at Anna. As soon as the other girl nodded, Brittany pressed a soft kiss at the corner of Anna's lips.

Anna smiled, feeling a tingling sensation where Brittany's lips had just been. The brunette closed her eyes and sighed happily. "Goodnight, Brittany Snow. You make me the happiest person alive."

"Goodnight, Anna Kendrick. Thank for loving me despite everything I've put you through. I'll always love you."

 **YAY! Sendrick are together at last! And Anna finally had her first kiss and make out session with Brittany! Many more sweet moments to come!**

 **Until next time,**

 **Elle and Gabi.**


	9. Chapter 8: The Journey Continues

Chapter 8: The Journey Continues

The next morning Brittany woke up to the smell of Dale's delicious cooking. She looked over and saw Anna had already gotten up. The young girl smiled as she remember the events of the night before, and how she had finally found happiness again. She put a sweatshirt and some fuzzy socks on, walking downstairs in her pjs shorts into the kitchen. A bigger smile appeared when she saw Anna having some coffee and sitting at the counter.

"Good morning, Britt." Dale said, smiling as she turned around from the stove. Brittany smiled and waved and then walked up to Anna.

"Hello there, beautiful." Brittany whispered, wrapping her arms around Anna from behind. She turned Anna's head and kissed her lips.

"Hello to you too," the brunette murmured back, leaning into the kiss a little bit more before pulling away. This action didn't go unnoticed by Dale, who just smiled at the two of them before continuing to make the breakfast. "I thought I'd let you sleep in a little bit later, so that's why I got up and didn't wake you. How did you sleep last night?" Anna asked, taking a sip of her cup of coffee.

"I slept great with you next to me," Brittany said, biting her lip and smiling at Anna. This made Dale smirk as she cooked hash browns. "I would've liked to cuddle with you this morning."

"Don't worry, I'm sure that there will be plenty of opportunities for us to cuddle in the future," Anna replied, taking Brittany's hand in hers and bringing it up to her lips, kissing it softly.

"So?" Dale said, finally speaking up as she continued to cook. "When did this happen?"

Brittany looked at Anna and blushed before she answered Dale's question. "Last night."

"Well, I'm happy for you two. It took long enough," the older blonde said with a chuckle. She finished the hash browns and put some on plates for Anna and Brittany. This made the two younger girls blush. "Do either of you want scrambled eggs?"

"Yes please," they both said in unison.

"Hey, we want Josh, Ester, Melieke and Sky to all find out on their own." Anna said. "So can you not say anything?"

Dale chuckled. "Yeah, sure. My lips are sealed," she said, pretending to zip her mouth shut, lock it and throw away the key.

Anna smiled, then she turned back to Brittany. "Is there anything special on the agenda for you today?" She asked.

"Nope." Brittany said as she took a bite of hash browns. "I'm just going to workout and shower. Why do you ask?"

"I was just wondering if we could have an afternoon cuddle session, since we didn't get to cuddle this morning," Anna replied, "It's okay if you don't want to. We can always cuddle later tonight."

"Of course, I'd love that." Brittany said smiling and kissing Anna's cheek before taking a bite of the bacon and eggs on her plate.

"There's going to be more than just cuddling going on." Dale said, making Brittany blush. Anna found this adorable, and she leaned in and kissed Brittany's cheek.

"Much to your disappointment, Dale, I'm pretty sure that we're just going to be cuddling," the brunette said.

"Uh huh, just make sure that if you actually end up making out that everyone won't be able to hear the moaning." Dale said, this time Anna blushed a little bit before silently returning to her breakfast.

Later that day, Britt was just getting done with running on the treadmill and moving over do some push-ups. Anna on the other hand was resting. Because of her injured foot, she was going to be unable to train or really participate in any missions for the foreseeable future, so she instead decided to go watch Brittany train.

Anna stepped into the workout room and sat down in one of the chairs, watching Britt do her push-ups. "Hey, babe," Brittany said. She smiled at Anna as she finished those and began doing Russian twists with a twenty-five pound weight in her hands.

It was hot in the weight room so Britt was working out in a bright blue sports bra and some black yoga pants.

"Man, I really miss being able to work out. I'm not sure how long it's going to take for my foot to heal, but hopefully it will be soon. I can't be falling behind in preparation for the next shipment," Anna said, her eyes glued to Brittany as she worked out.

"You'll be better soon enough," Brittany said, keeping her breathing under control as she continued to work her abs. After about fifty or so Russian twists she went back to push-ups.

Anna stood up and walked over to the mini-fridge in the corner of the room, grabbing a bottled water for herself and one for Brittany. "Let me know when you need a water break and I'll toss this over to you," she called out to the blonde.

"Thanks, Anna." Brittany said. After a few sets of push-ups and Russian twists, Brittany asked, "Will you hold my feet down while I do some crunches?" She asked.

"Yeah, sure," Anna said, standing up and walking over to Brittany. "You really are working hard today, Britt. You should be proud of yourself. I'm really impressed," the brunette told the blonde.

"Thanks, Anna." She said smiling as she started doing push-ups. She noticed the way Anna was smiling at her as she did her crunches. "You like watching me work out don't you?"

Anna nodded, still smiling at Brittany. "It's really attractive, if I do say so myself," she replied with a chuckle.

Brittany just chuckled and continued to do her crunches, pushing as hard as she could. "It's pretty hot when I watch you work out every now and then." She said, winking at Anna as she finished her first set of crunches.

"Oh is it now?" Anna said, raising an eyebrow at Brittany after she winked playfully at her. "Maybe that's why I catch you staring at me while I work out all the time."

"Well, I can't help how good your abs look when you do pull-ups." Brittany said moving to do some glute raises. "What exercise do I look hottest while doing?"

"That's actually a really tough question, so I'm going to have to go with every exercise that you do. You always look hot, no matter what exercise you're doing. That's why I like to come watch you exercise all the time," Anna replied. Brittany laughed and then continued to do her workout.

Afterwards the young girl took a shower and then dried her hair with a hair dryer. She then had some leftover pasta for lunch. While Brittany was having her lunch, Anna and Josh had been talking about some new strategies since Anna would be sidelined with her foot injury. After she finished talking to her brother, Anna went back inside, seeing that Brittany was almost done with her lunch. "Hey," she said with a smile.

Josh walked back in with his sister and grabbed some orange juice from the fridge. Brittany smiled back as she took a bite of her sandwich. "Hello there," she said. Anna walked up behind Britt and wrapped her arms around the girl's waist.

"Are you still up for some cuddling after lunch like we planned earlier?" Anna asked, kissing Brittany's cheek a few times.

"Hell yeah I am." Brittany said, smirking when she saw the look on Josh's face after Anna kissed Brittany's cheek.

"Are- what- did you two?" Josh said with a confused but excited look on his face. Brittany chuckled and nodded. Josh had a huge smile take over his face. "Well, it's about damn time!"

"That's almost exactly what Dale said when she figured it out this morning," Anna said with a chuckle. She smiled at her brother, and then smiled at Brittany. "And I do agree with you, Josh. It's about damn time."

"I'm really happy for you, sis." Josh said, walking over to his younger sister to give her a hug.

Anna smiled and embraced her brother back. "Thank you for always supporting me, Josh. I couldn't have made it to where I am today, and I wouldn't be the person I am today if it weren't for you."

"All I've always wanted for you to be happy," Josh whispered, holding her close.

After they revealed their relationship with everyone, Brittany and Anna went into Britt's room to have their cuddling session. Anna laid down on the bed first, smiling when Brittany laid down beside her. The brunette moved over so she was closer to the blonde, and she put her arm around her. "Hi."

"Hi," Brittany whispered. Her hand traced along Anna's arm, and she leaned in, for their foreheads were touching. "This is nice." She murmured, closing her eyes for a moment before taking a deep breath.

"Yeah, this really is nice," Anna muttered back, closing her eyes and pulling Brittany closer to her.

The younger girl took a moment to let her eyes travel along Anna's body, admiring how beautiful it was. How perfect it was to her. "You're so damn beautiful."

Anna blushed, and she opened her eyes. "Thank you. You're not too bad yourself," she replied, leaning in and kissing the tip of the blonde's nose.

"Thanks," Brittany said, blushing a little bit as well. "I love you, very much." She whispered, holding Anna's body close to her own. Anna's body provided so much warmth that if it hadn't been winter, they probably wouldn't need covers. "You know, I think tomorrow is Christmas. But you don't have to give me anything, I already got the greatest present I could've asked for." Brittany whispered, twirling some of Anna's hair in her fingers.

"And what's that?" Anna asked.

"Your love." Brittany whispered.

Anna smiled and pressed a soft kiss to Brittany's lips. "Well, I guess that it's a coincidence that I also have gotten the greatest gift I could've asked for, and that also happens to be your love."

"You know, for someone who'd never been kissed until last night, you're pretty good at it." Brittany said, pulling Anna's body closer.

"Well thank you," Anna replied, smiling brightly at Brittany. "You're pretty good at kissing as well, although you've had more experience."

"Thank you," Brittany said before leaning in and kissing Anna's lips gently. "Gosh, I just can't get enough of your lips." She whispered.

Anna blushed a little bit. "Well that's a good thing, because I can't get enough of your lips either," she murmured back.

"Tell me something about you that no one else knows." Britt said, smiling at Anna.

Anna scratched the back of her head. "See, the thing is, I don't really have any secrets. I know that sounds lame or whatever, but I've pretty much told Josh everything that I could possibly keep a secret."

"Well, what's something I don't know?" Brittany asked, running her hands up and down Anna's sides. She bit her lip, know Anna found it hot when she did that.

Anna paused, thinking of what to say. "Um, well, when Josh and I were at the camp, we found out that our parents are still alive."

"Oh my god, Anna!" Brittany said smiling. "That's amazing. We have to go get them!" She said smiling before seeing the look of concern on Anna's face.

"Heinrick has them in D.C. We may not be able to get there in time to save them," Anna said quietly, looking away from Brittany.

Brittany lifted Anna's chin up and looked into her eyes. "We're going to get to them." She whispered, kissing Anna's lips softly to reassure her.

Anna smiled softly. "I'm just scared," she admitted, biting her lip. "I'm scared that after all these years, I won't be strong enough to save them."

"Anna, you're by far the strongest person I've ever met. You've defied death, and you're going to save your parents. You and Josh both." Brittany said, looking into her lover's eyes. "You're stronger than anyone I've known."

Anna smiled, blushing a little bit at Brittany's words. "Thanks, Britt," she murmured softly. The younger girl leaned in and kissed Anna's lips one more time, it was gentle and soft yet full of love and passion.

"I wouldn't say it if it weren't true." Britt whispered, running her hands up and down Anna's back gently as they cuddled.

Anna smiled back, closing her eyes and sighing happily. "I love you so much, Brittany," she murmured softly, opening her eyes again and gazing at the blonde next to her.

"I love you too, Anna. So much." The blonde girl scooted closer to Anna and draped her arms around her. "So, I never got to ask. But how was your first ever makeout session last night?" She said with a small smirk.

"It was pretty nice. I'm looking forward to many more makeout sessions with you," Anna answered with a small smile on her face.

"And you'll get many more as time goes on." Brittany whispered, biting her lip gently with a small smirk tugging at her lips. Her fingers traced shapes on the dip in Anna's back, smiling at how warm and smooth Anna's skin was.

Anna smiled when she saw Brittany bite her lip. "I'm glad to hear that," she whispered back, her skin tingling where Brittany's fingers were tracing shapes.

They shared a moment of silence before either one of them spoke up again, and Brittany was the first to break the silence. "I know that Heinrick and his Healers are the devil incarnate, and I know this war was the worst thing to happen to this earth in a really long time; but without all those things happening, I never would've met you. And I'm so glad that I did." She looked into Anna's eyes. "I never want to be apart from you, Anna. Not now, not ever." She whispered, pulling Anna into a deep kiss.

Anna kissed back slowly and deeply, allowing Brittany to take control. The brunette placed her hands on the blonde's hips, pulling her closer while their lips moved together in perfect sync. Brittany straddled Anna gently, moving her lips to Anna's neck. She held Anna's hands down against the bed as she kissed a trail up behind Anna's ear.

"You're so perfect to me," Anna whispered, letting out a soft gasp at Brittany's motions.

"I can say the same thing about you baby," Brittany murmured back, continuing to leave kisses on the brunette's neck.

"You're really good at this," Anna murmured, biting her lip softly as Brittany's lips trailed back up to hers. "Like, really, really good." She muttered, running her hands through Brittany's blonde hair as their lips reconnected.

"Well, what can I say? I'm just talented at this. You don't mind, do you?" Brittany asked Anna in a teasing tone.

Anna immediately shook her head. "No, I don't mind. Not at all." Brittany smiled at Anna's adorable reaction to her question.

"Okay, because I could stop if you want me to." Britt whispered, tugging softly at Anna's bottom lip with her teeth before kissing her again softly.

"Please, don't stop." Anna whispered, moving her hands up and down along Brittany's back under her shirt. Her breath hitched for a moment when she touched Britt's bra strap. "Oh, uhh sorry." Anna said nervously as she and Brittany continued to make out.

Brittany pulled away from the kiss, smiling at Anna. "You don't need to be sorry, Anna. It's okay," she said, chuckling when she saw Anna was blushing with embarrassment.

"I just don't want to make you feel uncomfortable, you know?" Anna said looking up at Brittany. "I guess, it's just because I've never done anything like this before and I just wanted to make sure I wasn't doing anything that made you nervous or uncomfortable." Anna said sweetly.

Brittany smiled at Anna's words. "That's really sweet, Anna. I appreciate the fact that you care about what makes me comfortable or uncomfortable," the blonde said, "And for the record, that didn't make me uncomfortable. I promise I'll tell you if something makes me uncomfortable, okay?"

The brunette girl nodded and then pulled Brittany back down into a kiss, holding the younger girl's body close to hers as she ran her hands up and down Brittany's back. Anna smiled against Brittany's lips and then broke the kiss for a moment. She sat up and leaned against the headboard, pulling Brittany onto her lap before attaching her lips to the blonde girl's neck as she tried to get the hang of this; her hands were resting at the small of Britt's back while her lips made a trail along Brittany's neck.

Brittany's breath hitched as Anna started to kiss her neck, and then she bit down on her lip. "Don't stop," she breathed out, feeling a moan rising up in her throat. "You're really good at this."

A smile appeared on Anna's face when Brittany said that, and she continued to kiss along her neck and chest. She pulled Brittany closer as her lips traveled to the other side of Brittany's neck. "I won't stop," Anna breathed out as she sucked softly against the skin of Britt's collarbone.

Unable to hold it in any longer, Brittany let out a soft moan, closing her eyes. "Shit," she muttered under her breath, running her fingers through Anna's hair and tugging at the ends.

"I'm guessing that means you're enjoying this?" Anna murmured with a smirk on her face. She moved her lips back to Brittany's, laying the blonde down with her head towards the bottom of the bed.

"What do you think?" Brittany asked, biting her lip and smiling up at the brunette hovering above her.

"I just wanted to check in and make sure." Anna said smiling at her before kissing Brittany on the lips again. "Just so I know for future times, what sort of things do you enjoy during a make out session?" She asked, moving her lips back to Britt's neck and sucking on her skin a little more roughly.

"Well, I like what you're doing right now," Brittany said with a little giggle, sighing happily as Anna's lips trailed over her neck. "Everything that you've been doing so far is great, babe."

"Alright, just let me know if there's something you want me to try." Anna said, kissing Britt on the lips gently. "Because I'm still getting the hang of this, and I want to make you feel good."

"Believe me, baby, you're already doing a pretty good job of that," Britt replied, smiling and cupping Anna's face in her hands as they continued to kiss.

After a while of making out, the two girls were just laying in bed holding each other close. It had been quiet besides the two of them breathing, or sighing happily. It had been about ten minutes since either one of them had spoken. "Hey, Brittany?"

Brittany, whose eyes had been closed for the last few minutes, turned her head so that she was facing Anna. The blonde opened her eyes, gazing into Anna's. "Yeah, babe?"

"A while back you said that you'd seen a girl naked. Was that Hadley?" Anna asked nervously.

"Yeah, why?" Britt asked.

"I was just wondering if you and her ever had...you know." Anna said, blushing at the thought inside her head at the moment.

Brittany smiled a little bit. She always found it adorable when Anna blushed. "Um, yeah. We did. Why do you ask?" Brittany said in a soft, gentle voice.

"Ummm, well. I'm not ready for it just yet, but I want to know what it's like." Anna said. "How does it feel? Being with someone in that way." She asked softly with an awkward smile on her face.

Brittany again smiled at how adorable Anna was being. "You know, you're really cute when you act all embarrassed and awkward," the blonde said, making Anna blush even more. "But to answer your question, it's kind of hard to describe, like having your first kiss. There's just so many things happening at once, so many emotions that you're feeling. My first time with Hadley was really special, because we both loved each other and knew that we would share a bond forever."

Anna nodded and then tucked her hair back. "Do you think that we will have that kind of bond with each other? That we'll feel connected physically instead of just mentally?"

"I already feel connected with you in that way." Brittany said smiling at Anna.

"Really?" Anna asked.

Brittany nodded. "Yeah, I do. I feel like we already have a special bond, Anna. We've been through hell together. We all have a bond, experiencing what we've experienced. That being said, I think our bond is stronger than any bond I've ever had with anyone else, even Hadley."

"But you were with Hadley for two years." Anna said, feeling her heart beat rise. "How could you feel a stronger bond with me than you did with Hadley? We've only known each other for two and a half months, and from the looks of it you went through hell with Hadley as well being in that camp."

"You saved my life, Anna. You've saved my life multiple times. For that, I'm forever in your debt. If it weren't for you, I could've been stuck in that camp for the rest of my life. But you saved me, and you continue to save me every single day," Brittany said, looking into Anna's blue eyes.

"But Hadley-" Anna started.

"Hadley was my first love, Anna. And she will always, always have a special place in my heart. But you're my forever, Anna. You're my person." Brittany said, placing Anna's hand on her chest so she could feel Brittany's heart beat, which instantly rose at the feeling of Anna's soft touch. "You are my forever."

Anna smiled, a few tears of happiness welling up in her eyes. "And you are my forever, Brittany Snow. I promise you that," the brunette said, leaning in and kissing Britt's lips. Brittany kissed her back and held onto Anna, never planning on letting go.

Downstairs, Dale and Skylar had heard their conversation. "That's what I want." Dale said with a smile. "To find someone who's my person."

"Me too," Skylar said, sitting on the couch. "Hey, when you kissed me? Was that because you were just wishing me good luck? Or do you actually have feelings for me and you didn't want to never see me again with me knowing how you felt?" He asked with a smug yet sweet smile on his face.

"It was a little bit of both," Dale said, smiling shyly and looking down at the floor. "I was wishing you good luck, but I was also hoping that you would come back so I had a chance to properly tell you how I feel."

Skylar stood up and walked over to her. "Okay, how do you feel about me?" He asked softly, leaning against the wall as she looked out the window.

"I thought the kiss would make it pretty obvious," Dale said with a laugh. She then looked into Skylar's eyes. "I like you, Sky. I really like you."

"I figured that was what it meant." Sky said smiling at her, linking his hands in hers. "I just didn't want to come onto you if it was just for good luck." He whispered. "Would be nice if I said I feel the same way?"

Dale smiled and nodded. "Yeah, that would be really nice," she said, leaning in and quickly pecking Skylar's lips. Skylar smiled then cupped her cheeks, kissing her again.

"Wow," he said once he pulled back. "I've wanted to do that since the moment I laid eyes on you in the camp all that time ago. I have no clue why it took me so long." He said, kissing her lips softly again.

"Yeah, why did it take you so long?" Dale asked, chuckling. She smiled, blushing a little bit after the kiss. "For the record, I've wanted to do that for a long time, too."

Skylar smiled at her and tucked her hair back. "You're pretty adorable." He whispered.

Dale blushed even harder, the smile on her face growing wider. "Thanks," she said softly, avoiding eye contact with Skylar for a few moments.

"How long had you wanted to kiss me before you actually did?" Sky asked as they sat down on the couch together.

"Uh, I don't really know. Probably as long as you have, maybe even more," Dale answered. "What about you?" She asked, looking towards Skylar.

"Well, like I said before. I'd been wanting to do that ever since I laid eyes on you in the camp." Skylar said, placing one arm around Dale's shoulder. "You made the world a little brighter every day. Even if we were stuck in that god awful camp, you found a way to make me smile."

"I can say the same about you, Sky. You made being in that camp bearable. I wouldn't have made it out of there if it weren't for you," Dale said, taking Skylar's hand in hers.

"Well that we can both agree on," Skylar said with a chuckle, getting a playful slap on his arm. "In all seriousness though, I'm glad that I could get you out of there. I wasn't going to leave without you."

"Well, I'm certainly glad that you didn't leave me behind, because I don't know if I would still be alive," Dale said, smiling at Skylar. "Thank you for getting me out of there, Sky. Thank you."

Skylar smiled to himself, and then looked into Dale's eyes. "Thank you for everything. You've made my life worth living again." He whispered. Dale smiled and leaned their foreheads together, a silence growing between them as they shared their sweet moment together.

Their moment ended a couple minutes later when Josh walked up. "Well, I think it's time to start packing again. We're headed to Seattle."

"How come?" Skylar asked. "What about the next shipment that's coming here?"

"It's nothing compared to what's going to happen in Seattle." Josh said. "Heinrick, he's bringing in nuclear bombs."

"Oh shit," Skylar muttered under his breath, turning to Dale with widened eyes. Dale returned the same look of shock and fear. "When are the bombs coming in? And how the hell is he getting nuclear bombs in the first place?" He asked Josh.

"That doesn't matter right now, what matters is that we get to Seattle and stop whatever he has going on." Josh stated. "Go tell Ester, Melieke, Anna and Brittany to get packing. We're going to the Lincoln airport, and we're going to steal a plane so we can get to Seattle fast enough."

Skylar was about to ask how they would steal a plane, but he knew that they had no time to waste, so he stood up and went to tell Ester and Melieke to pack up while Dale went to go tell Anna and Brittany. "So, how are we going to steal a plane?" Brittan asked Anna as they continued to pack their things into their separate bags. "And do you and Josh know how to fly them?"

"Honestly? I have no idea how we're going to steal a plane, and neither Josh or I know how to fly one either. I think that it's a pretty risky plan, but that's not my call to make," Anna said, shrugging her shoulders while she continued to pack her bag.

"Well let's hope that one of us knows how to, I don't want to die in a plane crash." Brittany said with a chuckle before zipping up her bag.

They all made their way outside to the truck. Anna sat next to Brittany in the bed of the truck along with the bags that everyone had packed. Skylar was up in the passenger's seat next to Josh to help him with directions, and Dale was sitting in the backseat along with Ester and Melieke. Once Josh and Skylar decided on a route to take, the truck began to drive towards the Lincoln Airport which was a little over thirty minutes away from where they were staying.

"So, does anyone here know how to fly a plane?" Josh asked as he drove. Ester slowly raised her hand. "Really? When did you learn?"

"My dad was a pilot before and during the war. We would fly on our farm and he taught me how even after the war." Ester said. "I can fly any plane you want me to."

"Alright, well that issue is solved," Josh said with a sigh of relief. "Now we just have to hope that there's a plane at the airport that has enough fuel to take us to Seattle so we can stop Heinrick."

Brittany and Anna looked around at the world as it passed them by. "Do you think he's going to be there? Or are the Healers just bringing nukes in from somewhere?" Britt asked, fiddling with one of her knives.

"I don't know. Bringing in nukes is a pretty big thing, so I wouldn't be surprised if he was there. If, for some reason, he's not there, then we can expect that there will be a ton of Healer soldiers there to make sure that nothing goes wrong. They probably know that we're going to come for them," Anna replied.

"I really hope he's there," Britt said. "So I can take him out. I want to see the look in his eyes when I get him." She said, twirling the knife around in her fingers.

Anna noticed Brittany twirling the knife around. "Well, I think our number one priority is to stop the Healers from getting the nukes. Who knows what they'll do if they get them. If we manage to stop them from the getting the nukes, then we can go after Heinrick. Until then, I think we should try to focus on the more important of the two tasks."

The younger girl wanted to argue but she knew Anna was right. As much as she wanted her vengeance on Heinrick, the more important task was to keep the Freedom Healers from securing the nukes. Brittany nodded and then put her knife away. "You're right, I just want to make him pay for what he's done to all these innocent people."

Anna nodded. "I understand. But if we can stop him from hurting more innocent people, then that's far more important. Besides, once we eliminate all of their incoming shipments, they won't have any resources and we'll have plenty of opportunities to take down Heinrick once and for all," Anna said to Britt, the brunette reached over and took Brittany's hand in her own. She brought Britt's hand up to kiss it with her lips softly. "We're going to end his reign of terror Britt, I promise."

Brittany bit her lip nervously, looking away from Anna for a moment. "Do you really think that we can?" The blonde girl asked, turning back to face Anna.

The brunette nodded. "I know that we can. We've almost gotten him twice. And you know what they always say: the third time's the charm."

Brittany let a soft laugh out before leaning in and kissing Anna on the lips softly. "Thank you," she whispered, squeezing Anna's hand gently.

"Hey! Quit snogging back there!" Dale called out from the back of the truck. Anna rolled her eyes, playfully glaring at the blonde before turning back to Brittany, a small smile on her face.

"Really though," Brittany whispered. "I can't thank you enough for how good you've been to me, even when we weren't together."

Anna shrugged her shoulders. "I mean, you don't really need to thank me. Just because we weren't together before didn't mean that I shouldn't be nice to you. And if I recall correctly, there was a brief period of time where we didn't always see eye-to-eye."

"Yeah, but that was only because you had a huge crush on me and didn't know how to deal with it." Brittany said jokingly. She then looked down their hands laced together. "You know, the moment I met you, I think I knew at one point that I was going to fall for you."

"You did?" Anna said, raising an eyebrow. "What made you think that you were going to eventually fall for me?"

"In some ways, you reminded me of Hadley. Your quick wit, your need to kick everyone's ass." Brittany said with a smile. "But the main reason wasn't because you reminded me of Hadley, but because of the first time I saw you smile. It just made me forget about my worries. Even if you were pretending to hate me at the time, a part of me knew that I was going to fall for you. And I was right." She said, grinning at their fingers linked together to keep warm.

"You said that the first time you saw me made you smile, so that means that you smiled when you attacked me in the woods?" Anna said, looking at Brittany with a smile on her face.

"Well not then, I was afraid you were a Healer. I'm talking about once I actually got a good look at you, after I attacked you." Brittany said, playfully slapping Anna on the wrist.

"Oh, so that would be when you were holding a knife against my throat and trying to kill me. Got it," Anna said, chuckling when Brittany slapped her arm for a second time.

"Ha, ha," Brittany said chuckling at her girlfriend. "You just had this look in you eye, I don't know. I could name a million reasons as to why I had a feeling that one day I would fall in love with you."

Anna smiled. "Alright, I believe you," she said, looking into Brittany's eyes. "I also could name a million reasons on why I fell in love with you."

"Oh yeah? Name a few, and they can't be my smile or my eyes." Brittany said smiling at Anna as they neared the airport.

Anna glared at Brittany. "Well, you're no fun," the brunette murmured under her breath. "Those are the top two reasons though, you can't just say I can't use them," she complained.

"I know that, but I want to know the reasons why you love me, and not just my looks." Brittany said, looking up at the sky. "Because as beautiful as you are, that's not the main reason I love you."

"Your beauty isn't the main reason why I love you either. There's so many other amazing things about you, like your personality or how loyal you are, that have made me fall in love with you," Anna replied.

"My loyalty couldn't have been the reason that you fell in love with me. Everyone in our group is loyal." Brittany said, looking down. "And what about my personality? Because I don't find myself that interesting."

"Well, I think that you're interesting," Anna said, "You do such a good job of maintaining a positive attitude, even with everything that's happened and happening around us. I find that incredible. I don't understand how you do it."

"Oh, well. Okay," Brittany said. When the car stopped she stood up. She couldn't help but feel a little surprised at Anna's answers. She would've thought that Anna would've talked about how gentle and kind she was. But with that said, having Anna love her at all was enough. "Let's go, we're here."

Anna could sense a change in the tone of Brittany's voice. "Hey, are you mad at me or something? You're acting really weird all of a sudden. Was it something that I said?" The brunette asked.

"No," Britt muttered as she hopped down from the truck. "It's nothing." She stated, grabbing the bags of ammo and her knife set. "I just-" she started. "I'm just hoping that my positive attitude isn't the only reason you feel that way you do about me." She said before turning around to go help the others get the stuff out of the truck.

Anna sighed, knowing that she would have to explain herself to Brittany later. She decided to give the blonde some space for the time-being, trailing behind the group as they walked towards the airport.

The six of them managed to break into the airport and found a small private jet. Brittany set her stuff in the back. She then put her hair into a braid and helped Dale load up the other cargo that they were taking. Once the two finished loading up the cargo, the other members of the group got on board the plane and went to sit down in their seats.

Anna sat in the back of the plane in the seat next to the window, closing her eyes and slowly falling asleep.

Brittany looked over at Anna sleeping, and smiled. Her smiled quickly faded as she thought of their conversation. Dale, who was sitting across the aisle from Anna and Brittany, saw the smile fade from Brittany's face. "Hey, are you okay? You seem a bit down this afternoon," Dale said.

"Am I wrong for wanting to hear why Anna loves my personality?" Brittany asked. "I mean, I'm not being clingy if I'm asking what she loves about me right?"

"No, you're not wrong at all to ask about the reasons that she loves you. Maybe she said what she said because she was suddenly put on the spot, and she didn't have time to think," Dale said.

"Well it wasn't like I was expecting an answer just like that." Britt said, snapping her fingers. "It just would've been nice if she said something other that my positive attitude."

Dale shrugged. "Maybe you should talk to her about it when she wakes up. I don't know what else to say," she said.

Brittany nodded and then looked back at Anna. "I love her, so much Dale. I don't want to screw this up by being the needy girlfriend."

"This shouldn't make Anna think that you're a 'needy' girlfriend. It's a perfectly normal thing to want to know. Why would you think that Anna would see you as needy?" Dale asked Brittany.

"I don't know." Britt said. "I think that I'm just being paranoid." Brittany shook her head. "I'll just talk to her when she wakes up."

"Alright, that sounds like a good idea," Dale said, "And for the record, Brittany, I don't think you're being paranoid. I think your concern is reasonable."

"Thanks Dale," Brittany said smiling. "And I have a question. You and Sky seemed to be getting pretty friendly. Is there something going on there that I should know about?" She asked.

Dale blushed a little bit, smiling and nodding her head. "Uh, yeah. I guess there's something going on," she said shyly, looking away from Brittany for a moment.

"Well, I'm happy for you. You two seem really cute together; to be honest, both Anna and I thought something would happen between you two. Especially after you kissed at Camp Lincoln." Brittany said. "He's a great guy, nice catch."

Dale smiled. "Yeah, he really is a great guy. It's such a nice feeling when you find 'the one' isn't it? I mean, Sky and I have only been together for a little bit, but I have this feeling that he's the person for me."

"I get that same feeling when I'm with Anna. I just hope she feels the same way too, you know? I mean, I know she was the first one of the two of us to confess her feelings; I just hope that she feels as strongly for me as I do for her. I've never, ever felt this way before about someone before, not even Hadley."

Anna had woken up about two minutes ago, and had been listening to Brittany and Dale's conversation. She was paying attention closely at this particular moment.

"Wow, that means you feel pretty serious about Anna." Dale said.

"I do. I really do. And I know we've only known each other a couple of months, and I know we only got together a couple of days ago. But being with Anna, it just feels right. It feels meant to be, and that we'll grow old and gray together. I love her with everything I am and more. She's my forever. The forever I never thought I would find after I lost Hadley."

Hearing Brittany talk about Anna made Dale realize just how much she loved the brunette. "Wow," Dale said, letting everything that Brittany had just said sink into her mind. "You really, really love her a lot, don't you?"

"More than I've ever loved anyone," Brittany said, sniffling a little bit before she spoke again. "More than I'll ever love anyone."

Anna lay there in silence, pretending to still be asleep as she listened in. She had never heard a confession of love that was so, so beautiful. And it was for her. That was how Brittany felt about her, and Anna had never heard something so beautiful, so genuine.

"I just hope that…. That Anna feels the same way." Brittany said, sniffling again as she finally looked back at Dale, with tears in her eyes.

"Of course she feels the same way, Britt. She's risked her life multiple times to save you. She cares about you more than she cares about anything else," Dale said.

"Can we just stop talking about this right now? I just need to focus on the task at hand." Brittany said, wiping some of her tears before standing. "I'm actually going to get some rest, and just relax. I'm being paranoid over something I shouldn't be getting paranoid over." Brittany then walked to a bed near the back of the plane, lying down on it and falling asleep as she thought of the confession of love for Anna that she had just made.

 **What will happen once they reach Seattle? Will They stop Heinrick and his followers from getting the nukes? Will Britt get vengeance on the man who took her family from her? And will Anna be able to tell Brittany why she loves her so much? Stay tuned.**

 **Until next time,**

 **Elle and Gabi.**


	10. Chapter 9: Heating Up

Chapter 9: Heating Up

"Alright everyone, we're beginning to descend into Seattle," Ester called out as she smoothly piloted the plane towards a airport just outside of Seattle. Brittany woke from her nap and got everything ready. She looked around for Anna, spotting her having a conversation with Dale and Skylar at the moment. She sighed and then stood up, making sure all her stuff was ready and packed once they landed.

"I think once we land is when you should talk to Britt," Sky suggested to Anna. "Give her some time to wake up from her nap, we all know she can be grumpy after just waking up."

Anna looked over at Brittany, who was looking through her bags to make sure she had everything. The brunette then shrugged. "I don't know if that's a good idea. I mean, I don't want to get in an argument with her. I think I'll just wait for her to come to me."

"Oh come on Anna, sack up. Just go over and talk to her." Dale stated, rolling her eyes. "She's not mad at you. If anything she's desperately hoping that you'll go and talk to her. She said that with you to me while you were sleeping. And then she confessed her love in such a way that I've never heard before." Dale slung her bag around her shoulder and then talked in a less annoyed voice. "That girl loves you more than anything in this world, go and talk to her when the plane lands."

Before Anna had a chance to respond to what Dale had said to her, the plane jolted as it hit the pavement of the runway. Once the plane had rolled to a complete stop, Ester got out of the cockpit and grabbed her stuff, motioning for everyone else to follow her off the plane. Anna was the last one out, and before she exited the plane she made sure that they hadn't left anything behind. Once she was satisfied that they had gotten all of their things, she jogged a little bit to catch up with the rest of the group.

"Alright guys," Josh said. "We are going to the Space Needle. It'd been abandoned ever since the end of the war and it will give us a good look out for when the nukes are coming in." He stated as they made their way through the airport and towards an old subway station. They all got onto the subway and Josh put in the coordinates for the Space Needle before setting it on autopilot.

Brittany was looking out the window near one the seats, her bag placed on the ground beside her. Sky nudged Anna. "Now's your chance."

Anna looked over and saw that Brittany was looking out the window. She bit her lip nervously and then stood up, walking over and sitting down in the seat next to the blonde. There was an awkward silence before Anna broke it. "Uh, hi," she said softly.

Brittany nodded at Anna and continued to look out the window. "Hey, how are you?" She asked, tucking her hair back as she looked at the unfamiliar city.

"I'm doing alright. I'm a little bit nervous about this whole Heinrick getting nuclear bombs thing, but I'm alright. How are you?" Anna asked, looking out of the window as well.

"I've been better. But I've also been worse." Brittany said, smiling slightly for a moment before looking down. "Listen, about earlier. I shouldn't have been upset over your answers. It's not like you said you didn't love anything about me, I was just being over dramatic."

"I don't think you were being overdramatic, Britt. I don't think that at all. I'll admit that I'm still not really sure why you got upset, and I know that I should understand. I just want you to tell me if there's something I could've done or said so that we could have avoided this brief period of awkwardness," Anna replied.

"I guess I was just expecting a more romantic response than 'you have a positive attitude.'" Brittany began, fidgeting with her fingers. "You mean the world to me; and the way you tried to list reasons why you love me, kind of made it seem like you were having trouble finding reasons other than my smile or eyes. It almost made me feel like you liked my looks, more than you loved me." There was a brief moment of silence between the two of them. "I know it may seem weird of me to think that; I just thought since you said you could name a million reasons why you love me, the fact that I'm 'interesting' and have a 'positive attitude' wouldn't be your top choices."

Anna nodded as she was listening to Brittany. "Well, first I want to apologize, because now I understand why you were upset and I feel like I brushed it off before without thinking about your feelings. And second, I want you to know that I don't only value your looks. I love everything about you, and I mean everything. You're perfect to me, Brittany. I think the reason that my answers were a bit strange was because I was trying to list specific things that stood out to me, because I knew that saying 'I love everything about you' wasn't going to be enough to describe how much I love you."

Honestly, Brittany didn't know what else to say at the moment. She just took Anna's hand in hers and squeezed it softly before just letting their fingers link together perfectly. "I honestly don't know how you could love me. For the longest time I thought no one would ever love me again. I thought that people would take one look at me after hearing my story and think that I was damaged goods. That's why I was so insistent on hearing some of the reasons why you love me, because I never thought anyone would after I lost Hadley and my family." Brittany said, looking down and tearing up.

"Hey," Anna said, lifting Brittany's chin up with her finger. "You're my forever, okay? I will always love you. Always. You're my person, Brittany. You're the one for me. Sure, we've been together for only a few days, and we've known each other for a few months, but you're my forever, Brittany Snow, and I will always love you."

"Always?" Brittany asked, leaning her forehead against Anna's as couple of tears fell down her cheeks.

"Always," Anna whispered back, wiping away Brittany's tears with her thumb. No more words needed to be said, Brittany just smiled softly and then leaned into leave a soft kiss on Anna's lips.

"Always," Britt repeated back, smiling against Anna's lips.

Anna smiled when their lips parted, looking into Brittany's eyes. "Are we good now?" She asked.

"Yeah, yeah we are." Brittany said smiling and looking into Anna's incredible blue eyes. "We're so good," she whispered.

"Okay, good," Anna said with a chuckle and a small smile. She put her arm around the blonde's shoulder, bringing her closer. "So, did you notice that there is something going on between Sky and Dale? They have been all lovey dovey lately."

"Oh, well like us, they've told each other how they feel. According to Dale." Brittany said.

Anna smiled when Brittany said that. "They're really cute together. I'm happy for them, they deserve it after all they've been through together," the brunette said.

"They may be cute, but we're cuter." Brittany said, smiling and holding her girlfriend's hand while laying her head on Anna's shoulder.

"Well duh, obviously we're the cuter couple," Anna replied with a chuckle, leaning the side of her head against Brittany's.

Brittany laughed and then kissed Anna behind her ear and smiled. "You're pretty hot to me, like, really hot." She whispered softly. "There have been nights in bed where I dream about you doing things to me." She whispered, smirking and Anna tensed up.

Anna swallowed the lump in her throat, her muscles still tense. "O-oh yeah?" She stuttered, avoiding eye contact with Brittany. "Th-that's cool I guess."

Brittany smiled and then kissed Anna's cheek. "Is everything okay?" She asked oh so innocently. "I didn't make you uncomfortable did I?" She whispered, holding Anna's hand in her own.

"No, not at all," Anna replied, feeling her face turn red. "I-I'm fine."

"Babe, if I did you can tell me. It won't hurt my feelings." Brittany said, resting her hand on Anna's shoulder. "Did that make you feel uncomfortable or?" She asked smiling a little to herself at her comment.

"Only a little bit, I guess. I don't know. Just forget about it," Anna said, not able to stop herself from smiling when Brittany put her hand on her shoulder.

Brittany chuckled and smiled and kissed Anna's cheek. "You're pretty cute when you get all flustered, you know?" She said smiling.

Anna rolled her eyes. "Yeah right," she said sarcastically. "I'm not cute at all. I'm a badass. There's no in-between."

"Badasses can be cute. You've called me a badass on numerous occasions." Brittany said smiling at Anna, chuckling at her girlfriend. "And you've also called me cute on numerous occasions. I say you can be both."

Anna shrugged her shoulders. "If you say so. I still think that I'm more of a badass than I am cute," she said.

"Would you like it more if I said you were a sexy badass?" Brittany asked, shaking her head and laughing at her girlfriend.

"Mmm, maybe," Anna said, pretending to think long and hard about Brittany's proposition.

"I'm guessing that's what would you prefer." Brittany said, kissing Anna's lips slowly and sensually, pulling back suddenly to leave Anna wanting more.

Anna smiled after the kiss and quickly leaned back in, reconnecting their lips. "You've guessed correctly, my love," she murmured against Brittany's lips.

"Damn, I could kiss those lips all day." Brittany whispered,

"Yeah, get a room so you don't have to make us watch." Josh stated, rolling his eyes.

To annoy her brother, Anna kissed Brittany's neck and ran her hand along her thigh in soft and smooth way while her lips caressed Britt's. What she didn't know was that kind of turned Brittany on and she grabbed Anna's hand. "Not here, babe." She said, placing Anna's hand on and around her shoulder.

"Why not?" Anna asked.

"Because when you do that, it uh, turns me on. A lot." Brittany whispered.

"Oh, uh, okay. Sorry, I didn't realize that. I won't do it again," Anna whispered back. Josh overheard this exchange, and he snickered to himself because he could tell that Anna was embarrassed.

"You don't have to be sorry babe," Brittany said, smiled at Anna. "I enjoy it, I just don't want to be left high and dry." Anna nodded at this and then smiled awkwardly.

Once they got to the Space Needle, they took the elevator to the top of the building so they could get a good look out. They all split up into different rooms in the following pairings: Sky and Dale, Melieke and Ester, Brittany and Anna, and then Josh had a room to himself.

Anna was currently setting up a little watch area for when the night watch began. Josh came up to her with a smirk on his face. Anna noticed this and turned her head. "What's that look for?"

"Oh nothing," Josh said, snickering a little bit more. "Sounds like you know how to turn on your girlfriend."

"Shut up," Anna said blushing.

Josh raised his eyebrow at his sister. "What? It's true. Brittany was practically squirming when you were kissing her neck," he said with a smirk on his face.

Anna rolled her eyes at him. "You are so weird."

"I may be weird, but I'm also observant." Josh said, setting a bag of ammo down behind the counter. "She really, really likes you, dude." He stated. "Of course she's going to get hot and bothered when you do stuff like that."

Anna bit her lip a little bit. "I guess I didn't really think of that. I only did it to annoy you," she replied, smiling a little bit. "It was kind of embarrassing, to be honest."

"Why was it embarrassing? If anything, you should be proud that you can make her feel that way." Josh stated. "Why would you be embarrassed?"

Anna shrugged. "I don't know. I mean, I'm not really ready to go all the way yet, and I don't have any experience. I guess I feel unprepared? I don't know," she said, running her fingers through her hair.

"Well obviously you know how to get her going." Josh joked before taking a more brotherly and kind tone of voice. "I think Brittany knows you're not ready. Maybe that's why she stopped you, because she knows her boundaries and she didn't want to push you." Josh said, patting Anna's shoulder. "Don't overthink anything, when the time comes you'll be ready. And like you, Brittany will wait for when you're ready to take that step. No matter how long it takes."

Anna nodded as she listened to what Josh was saying. "You're right," the brunette said, "Sometimes I just feel a little bit insecure because the last relationship she was in lasted for two years, and I know how much Hadley meant to her. I just think that I'm getting into my own head and convincing myself that I'm competing with Hadley, even though I know I'm not."

"And what did Brittany say when you felt insecure about comparing to Hadley?" Josh said.

"That she'd never felt a stronger connection than she did with me." Anna stated.

"So there's no need to worry about competing." Josh said, smiling softly at his younger sister. "Brittany said so herself that you were the best thing that had ever happened to her. She told Dale this while you were sleeping and Dale told me."

Anna smiled. "She's the best thing that's ever happened to me, too. I don't know what I'd do without her. I certainly wouldn't be as happy as I am now if I didn't have her in my life," she said.

"Exactly." Josh said with a big smile. "I look at you two and hope that I will be lucky enough to find what you two have with someone." He said, looking down with a smile for a moment before looking back up at her. "Now, go spend some time with your girlfriend. You're the third watch."

"Alright, thanks," Anna said, continuing to set up the watch spot until it was finished before she went to her room with Brittany. She knocked on the door a couple times before opening it. "I'm back, Britt!" She called out.

"Hey there," Britt said smiling as Anna walked in. "I'm second watch tonight so let's cuddle until I have to go." She said, plopping her body down on the air mattress they had found in a closet.

Anna took off her shoes and sat down on the mattress, scooting closer to Brittany before laying down. The brunette smiled at the blonde, putting her arm around her waist. "Hey," she murmured.

"Hi," Brittany said smiling at her girlfriend. She moved closer to Anna and rested her head in the crook of Anna's neck. "I like cuddling you." She whispered, running her hand up and down Anna's arm as the other girl held her close.

"I like cuddling with you too. What a crazy coincidence!" Anna said with a smile, leaning in and kissing Brittany's lips softly. "I also like kissing you."

"Is that so?" Brittany whispered, smiling when their lips parted. "What about kissing me do you like so much?" She asked, leaning her head to one side as she looked up at Anna in curiosity.

"Your lips are really, really soft. Perfect for kissing," Anna murmured in reply, leaning in and connecting their lips once more.

"I'm glad you think so, because I think the same thing." Brittany whispered, smiling up at her girlfriend.

Anna smiled back at Brittany, closing her eyes and sighing with happiness. "You make me really happy, Britt," she whispered.

"You make me happy as well Anna, I love you. With all that I am." Brittany whispered, snuggling up close to Anna. "You know, we never celebrated Christmas. So depending on how our next mission goes, we should celebrate the new year."

"That sounds fun and exciting. What would you want to do to celebrate?" Anna asked, running her fingers through Brittany's blonde hair.

"Maybe just have New Years be our Christmas. I'm sure it's been awhile since any of us have celebrated Christmas. Maybe now that we're all together now, we should do that." Brittany said closing and resting her eyes. "We have our own little family right now."

Anna smiled. "Yeah, that sounds like great idea. We can all just hang out together, maybe we can get little gifts for each other, stuff like that."

"Exactly, we should run it by everyone tomorrow when everyone is up." Brittany said. "Wouldn't it be funny if we did a Secret Santa, and I got you and you got me?" She asked with a sweet giggle.

"That would be pretty interesting," Anna said, smiling at Brittany's cute giggle. "I feel like I'd only be able to get good presents for either you or Josh. I don't know the others that well enough to pick out something they'd want as a Christmas present."

"Well, the good news is a Secret Santa isn't mandatory for Christmas, so maybe you could just get a present for your brother and I." Brittany stated with a smile. "I also think that Sky and Dale would pick out presents for just the two of them and the same would go for Melieke and Ester."

"I think doing a Secret Santa would be good for us all, though. We could all get to know each other better. I mean, we're already pretty close, but we could bond more," Anna said.

"Alright then, let's do it!" Brittany said smiling widely. "We'll talk to everyone about it tomorrow!" She said enthusiastically, followed by an excited giggle. "This is going to be so much fun!"

Anna shook her head and laughed to herself. "You are so adorable, you know that right? Like, if I could put your adorableness on a scale of one to ten, you'd be in the thousands," the brunette said with a smile.

"I am pretty adorable, I have to admit." Brittany said with another small giggle. "Why else would you have fallen for me if it weren't for adorable persona?"

"Well, you're also pretty humble," Anna said with mock sarcasm. She laughed when Brittany slapped her arm. "Hey, you're the one boasting about being so adorable!" Anna said, shrugging.

"You know I was kidding." Brittany said with a laugh as the two of them playfully glared at each other.

"Hey, I'm not so sure if you were kidding. You seemed pretty confident in that statement," Anna replied, smirking a little bit at the blonde beside her.

"Maybe I'm a good actress." Brittany said smiling. "But one thing I'm not acting out is my love for you, Anna Kendrick."

Anna blushed. "Why thank you, Brittany Snow. I find those words to be very touching. I can assure you that my feelings for you are also pretty genuine," she replied, looking into the blonde's blue eyes.

"They better be, otherwise we have a problem, Kendrick." Brittany said blushing a little as Anna gazed her way.

"Oh yeah? What kind of problem would we have?" Anna asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, if you were only pretending to love me, our relationship wouldn't be real." Britt stated with a smile.

"Well our relationship is definitely real, so there's no need to worry about that," Anna replied. She leaned their foreheads together, their lips only centimeters apart. Brittany eyed Anna's lips for a moment, smiling to herself.

"That's because it's like we said." Brittany whispered. "Always."

"Always," Anna smiled at Brittany. "I really like the sound of that." She managed to get out before cutting herself off and kissing Brittany's lips. Anna's lips lingered on Brittany's for a few moments, not wanting to break the kiss for any reason. She pulled back when there was a knock at the door.

"Hey Brittany, it's time for your watch," Josh said. Both girls looked at the clock in their room, not realizing how two hours had gone by since Josh took the first watch.

"You have the next watch after me, then we'll be together for the rest of the night. I'll see you after your watch babe." Britt said, leaning in and kissing Anna one more time before standing up and putting a jacket and some slippers on. She blew a kiss to Anna. "Get some sleep my lovely girlfriend."

"Will do, babe. Now go have fun keeping watch," Anna said, catching the kiss that Brittany blew to her before she laid down on the mattress, pulling a blanket over herself and falling asleep soon after.

Over in Dale and Sky's room, the the 24 year old and the 21 year old were engaging in a little makeout session, and Skylar smiled as Dale straddled him on the bed. "You're really beautiful," he whispered, kissing Dale's lips gently.

"Thanks," Dale murmured back with a smile as they continued to kiss. "You're really handsome if I do say so myself."

Skylar thanked her by pecking her lips softly before gently flipping them over and moving his lips to her neck. One hand ran along her leg while the other one caressed her waist.

Dale's breath hitched at the sudden sensation of Skylar's lips against her neck, but she quickly recovered by turning her head to the side just enough to give Sky better access to her neck. "Mmm, that feels nice."

"I was so stupid for not letting you know how I feel sooner. I'm just making up for lost time." Skylar whispered, kissing down her chest and stomach before moving back to the other side of her neck and up behind her ear.

Dale gasped again, running her fingers through Skylar's hair as he kissed up and down her body. "Waiting all those years was definitely worth it for this," she murmured.

"I agree," Skylar whispered, running his hands up and down her thighs. "I'm so glad I don't have watch till 4:00, because I could do this with you for hours on end." He whispered, sucking a couple hickeys into her skin, holding her body close to his as he trail her chest with kisses.

Before the situation could escalate much further, Dale stopped Skylar. "I'm really enjoying this, but I don't want to go much further. Is that okay?"

"Of course, I don't mind." Skylar said smiling, kissing her lips gently. "I won't make you go any further than you want to."

"It's just that's it's been awhile since I was sexually intimate with someone and I want to slowly get back into it." Dale said, softly running her hand through Skylar's hair.

"It's alright, it's been awhile for me too." Skylar said, smiling down at her. "This is perfect for me." His lips making a heart shaped trail on her chest. "This is the most action I've gotten in three years." He said chuckling.

"Me too," Dale said, laughing with him.

"You're perfect to me, Dale." Sky whispered, kissing her lips gently, running his hands along her sides.

"And you're perfect to me too, Skylar," Dale mumbled back as Skylar took control. The blonde let their lips move together in sync, not wanting to ever break the kiss.

Their hearts were beating close together, and Skylar knew that Dale was the one for him. "You're so beautiful." He whispered, tucking hair away from her neck, leaving soft kisses along her neck before moving back to her lips. "So incredible." He said reconnecting their lips passionately.

Dale felt butterflies in her stomach every time that Skylar connected their lips, and she too knew that Skylar was the one for her. "I'm so lucky to have you, Sky. I'm so lucky," she said.

"Thank you babe," Skylar whispered. "I'm very lucky to have you as well."

A few hours later, Anna and Brittany both had their watch and it was about 2 a.m. In the morning. Anna had her arms around Brittany and they were cuddling and kissing under the covers. Anna smiled and cupped Brittany's cheek with her free hand and connected their lips. "Those four hours felt like forever." Anna whispered.

"Yes, they did. But we made it through those four hours, and now we get to spend the rest of the night together," Brittany murmured back, sighing with happiness as Anna kissed her lips.

"I love the sound of that." Anna whispered. "Like I love it," she said, emphasizing the "love" before kissing her girlfriend on the lips. "I wasn't able to stay as warm without you here." She whispered, tucking Brittany's hair out of her face and behind her ear.

"Neither was I. It was pretty cold while I was on watch, and it was especially cold without you there to keep me warm with your cuddles," Brittany said, smiling and leaning in for another kiss.

"You're so hot." Anna said smiling. Anna moved her lips to Brittany's neck. Her hands running up and down her girl's legs.

Brittany turned her head to the side, giving Anna better access to her neck. "You know, for someone who doesn't have much experience, you are pretty good at kissing."

This made Anna chuckle. "I'm just trying different things out to see what you like. Josh teased me earlier about being able to turn you on." She said smiling as she kissed along Britt's neck gently.

"Well, he wasn't wrong. You do a pretty good job of turning me on, baby," Britt replied, smiling and running her fingers through Anna's brunette locks of hair.

"Really?" Anna said with a shocked looked on her face. "Either I must be a natural or you haven't had any action in a couple of years. Because I didn't think i was doing very well." She whispered running her hand up and down Britt's leg gently.

"It might be a little bit of both, but whatever the case may be, you're really good at turning me on. In fact, you're turning me on as we speak," Brittany said, biting her lip as Anna's hand ran up and down her leg.

"Oh, I am am I?" Anna whispered, nibbling on her girlfriend's ear. "Tell me how I'm turning you on so I know what to do for later times." She said, sucking and nibbling on Britt's earlobe.

"Well, I really like that," Brittany said with a little giggle. "I also like it when you kiss my neck. I don't know why, but neck kisses have always been my weakness."

"Do you have a particular spot that's your weak spot?" Anna asked, kissing across Brittany's neck to the other side of her neck, sucking gently on her pulse point.

Brittany decided to play hard-to-get for a little bit. "I don't know. Do I? That's for you to figure out," the blonde said with a smirk on her face. That's when Anna sucked on right under Britt's ear, running her tongue along Britt's skin as she sucked on that point. A smirk tugged at Anna's lips when Brittany moaned.

"I'm thinking I found it." Anna said smiling and kissed her neck roughly.

"Yeah, you found it," Brittany whispered back, her voice barely audible as her words were cut off by another moan. "How did you find it that quickly?"

"You said yourself that I'm a natural at this." Anna whispered, kissing Brittany's neck and scratching her waist softly. "Plus, you're turning me on a lot too with your moans." She whispered.

"Is that so?" Brittany asked, raising her eyebrow. She moaned once more, watching Anna's facial expressions to see how she reacted.

"Fuck," Anna whispered, continuing to suck on her neck. "I'm not ready to go all the way, but I'm willing to go pretty far if that's okay with you." She murmured, wrapping Brittany's legs around her waist as she hovered over her.

"That's perfectly okay with me, baby. I don't wanna push you or anything," Brittany replied with a soft smile. "Now, show me what 'pretty far' is." Anna responded by sitting up and stripping her shirt over her head and tossing it down on the floor.

"How's that for showing you?" Anna whispered before pushing Britt's shirt up to press kisses along her stomach, running her hands along Brittany's inner thighs and then up under her shirt, massaging her breasts.

Brittany gasped, closing her eyes and resisting the urge to moan as Anna's hands began to massage her breasts. "Shit, I wasn't expecting that," the blonde muttered, biting down hard on her lip.

"Is this okay?" Anna asked, stopping the kissed and her hand's motions and looking up at Brittany. "It's not too much is it?"

"No, no. It's perfect," Brittany said, smiling softly up at Anna. "I just wasn't expecting it, that's all. It's amazing, though. You make me feel amazing."

"Okay, I just wanted be sure." Anna murmured before she began her ministrations again. She licked up Brittany's abs. "Shit, Britt, your body is so gorgeous."

Brittany smiled softly at Anna's compliment. "Thank you, babe," she murmured, opening her eyes and watching Anna as she licked up her abs.

"Do you want to have a turn with me?" Anna asked, smiling and kissing up Britt's body to her lips. "I'd like to see what you can do."

"Believe me, baby, you're not ready for what I can do," Brittany said with a smirk and a wink.

"Is that a challenge, Snow?" Anna said smirking at the younger girl. She began grinding their hips together, sucking on Brittany's cleavage. "I bet I am," she whispered. "Don't doubt my will power so easily." She said, nibbling on Brittany's ear as she pushed hips against the blonde girl's.

Brittany fought the urge to moan yet again, feeling herself getting even more turned on by Anna grinding their hips together. "I'm impressed, Kendrick. I really am. Although, is this all that you've got?" She said teasingly.

"Give me a break," Anna chuckled. "My first kiss was under four days ago, I think I'm doing alright so far considering how much you've been moaning." She teased before pulling Brittany onto her lap, paying attention to her cleavage with her mouth, suck and licking on her girlfriend's sensitive skin while her hands squeezed Brittany's ass slightly, as if she was kneading dough. "Say my name," Anna whispered, smirking very deviously as she continued her motions.

Brittany was determined to stay quiet for as long as possible, so she bit down on her lip and looked away from Anna. The brunette knew that Brittany wouldn't be able to resist for too long, so she continued her ministrations. "Come on, Britt. You know you want to say my name. Just say it. It's not that hard," the brunette murmured in a soft voice.

Anna's words of seduction made Brittany finally say the word Anna wanted her to say. "Mmmm, Anna." She whispered.

"That's it babe," Anna murmured, groaning playfully as Brittany ran her hands through her brown locks. She softly scratched down Brittany's back and bum before reconnecting their lip. Anna knew they weren't going all the way tonight, but things were definitely heating up between the two of them quickly. She pulled Brittany's shirt over her head and smiled smugly at Britt's bra clad breasts. "Impressive," Anna said smirking up at her girlfriend.

Brittany blushed at Anna's remark. "So you like what you see, huh?" The blonde asked. The brunette nodded her head, making Brittany giggle to herself. "Well, if you want, you can get to see this more often. It's up to you, though."

"Oh babe, I'll be wanting to see this a lot." Anna said back, pulling Brittany down into a kiss while one hand ran through the blonde's smooth, wavy hair. Her other hand was resting along the small of Britt's back. "After that, do you think I'm ready for whatever you can do to me?"

"Well, it doesn't really matter if I think you're ready. What matters is if you think you're ready or not for what I have in store for you," Brittany said, breaking the kiss after a few moments and looking into Anna's eyes.

"Show me what you've got babe," Anna whispered, gazing lovingly into Brittany's eyes. "I'm all in."

For some reason, the last three words that Anna had said kept replaying in Brittany's head, and the blonde felt herself tear up. "I'm all in too, baby. I'm all in," she whispered to Anna, leaning down and connecting her lips with the brunette's in a slow, gentle kiss.

Anna's heart skipped a couple beats when Brittany's lips met hers, and she smiled and wiped a tear from Brittany's cheek from her thumb. "I'm all in babe. Now, show me what you've got babe." She murmured.

Brittany slowly pulled away from the kiss, beginning to trail her lips down Anna's neck. "You found my weak spot. Now it's my turn to find yours," the blonde whispered, gently nipping at Anna's skin.

"Mmmmm," Anna hummed, smiling as the blonde girl lay her back down on the bed. When Brittany hovered over her, Anna couldn't help but smile at the girl as she kissed along her body.

"Tell me what you like, baby. I want to make you feel as good as possible," Brittany whispered as she continued to pepper the brunette's soft skin with loving kisses.

"Britt, whatever you do, I'm sure I'll deeply enjoy it. Just keep doing what you're doing. It's amazing already." Anna murmured, running her hands through Brittany's perfect hair.

Brittany raised an eyebrow. "I've barely gotten started yet, though. I'm sure it's not that amazing. Definitely great, but not amazing."

"Well I'm the one who's receiving the kisses, that's for me to decide." Anna murmured, closing her eyes and getting lost in Brittany's touch. "Please, just whatever you do, don't stop."

Brittany smiled and resumed her ministrations, loving the reactions that she was getting from Anna. Whenever the brunette's breath hitched or she let out a moan, the blonde would whisper "Do you like that?" to which the brunette would nod her head in response.

"God, Britt." Anna murmured, biting her lip and moaning softly. "I need a little bit more." She whispered, running her hands and tangling them in Britt's hair. "Shit, your lips feel so good against my body."

"I bet they do, baby. How good does it feel?" Brittany asked. She started to leave red hickeys on Anna's skin, starting at her collarbone and trailing across her chest.

"It feels so incredible babe, just don't stop Britt." Anna murmured.

"As you wish, babe," Brittany said. She did as Anna asked and continued to leave hickeys on her skin. Once she was sure she had covered every inch of her girlfriend's skin, Brittany sat up and looked down at Anna. "You're so beautiful," she whispered.

Anna bit her lip and blushed at Brittany's compliment. "Thanks, you're pretty beautiful yourself." She said, feeling her heart beating at a thousand miles an hour. "You're really good with your lips, and your hands." She added.

"Thank you, babe. You're pretty skilled yourself as well," Brittany said with a smirk. She leaned back down and kissed Anna's lips, this kiss more rough and passionate than the previous ones.

"Mmmmm," Anna hummed, she approved of Brittany's rough kiss against her lips and Anna let Britt's hands run all over her body. "Brittany," she moaned softly. "Grind on me babe," she whispered.

Brittany smirked when she heard Anna moan. "If you want me to grind on you, then that's what I'll do," she murmured in Anna's ear as she began to grind their hips together.

Anna groaned in the pleasure that this was causing her, she moaned and held Brittany's hips as the blonde continued to grind expertly against Anna's core. "Fuck, Brittany. You're so damn hot, I could watch and have you do this to me for hours." She moaned. "Fucking hell," Anna gasped as one of Brittany's grinds were especially hard.

"Do you want me to keep going, or is this too much for you?" Brittany asked, a devious look in her eyes as she gazed down at the brunette. "It's okay with me if you don't want to keep going."

"The only reason I'd ask you to stop would be if I was about to finish super early. And I'm not quite there yet, so please, keep going baby. I need you to keep going." Anna said, sitting up and pulling Britt onto her lap. "I'll promise to tell you when I need to stop okay babe?"

"Okay," Britt said, smiling softly. She cupped Anna's face in her hands and leaned forward, kissing the brunette deeply as she resumed her grinding from before. "I love you so much, Anna. Don't you ever forget that," Brittany said, nibbling on the brunette's ear.

"Mmmm, I love you too, Brittany. More than you'll ever know." She said, softly scratching against Britt's back as their makeout grew more and more intense. Anna was just about to reach up and unclip Brittany's bra when the door swung open and the two broke apart instantly. "Jesus! Can't you knock?"

Skylar stood there in the doorway with a flashlight. "Guys, the shipment is coming right now! We need to go!"

 **Things are heating up for Skylar and Dale as well as for Brittany and Anna. I wonder how long it will take before either couple takes the next step. Plus, will they be able to stop the shipment on time? Stay tuned to find out!**

 **Until next time,**

 **Elle and Gabi.**


	11. Chapter 10: The Docks

Chapter 10:

Within five minutes, each member of the group had gotten ready for their attack on the next shipment. Before they left, Josh made sure that everyone had enough guns and ammunition so that they wouldn't be underprepared. "Alright everyone, let's move! We don't have any time to waste!" He declared.

The seven of them hopped on the train and set the main docks as their destination. Brittany was pacing back and forth, twirling a knife in her hands. She was trying to picture Heinrick being there, and her finally having her vengeance on him. But she was also focused on stopping the delivery of the nukes.

Anna, who was sitting down on an empty crate, stood up and walked over to Brittany, putting a hand on the blonde's shoulder. "Hey, it's going to be okay," she said in a soft voice. "I know you're nervous about this, but trust me when I say that it's going to be okay. I'll be by your side the whole time."

"I just don't want what happened at the last shipment to happen here. I can't and won't go back to a stupid camp again, and I want to make Heinrick pay." Brittany said, trying to take a deep breath. "I know everyone here feels they have the need to kill Heinrick. But if we're being honest, I'm the one who has the most drive. He killed not only my parents, but my brothers and my girlfriend as well. He's taken almost everything from me. And I know it seems selfish but that's how I feel."

"I agree with you. You've lost almost everything because of him. You have every right to want revenge. But no matter how badly you want to kill Heinrick, destroying the shipment has to come first. Once we do that, then you can go after him. But for now, we have to focus on stopping him from getting the bombs," Anna said, maintaining the same soft voice.

"I know Anna, I'm going to carry out my duty tonight. That doesn't mean I can't think about it." Brittany said. "I use it as motivation to do all the other things I've done."

"I know, Britt. I just-" Anna paused. "Just be careful, okay? If you have the chance to go after him, please be careful. I can't lose you."

"Anna, I've said this many times. You're never going to lose me. Never." Brittany said, tucking Anna's hair back. "I made a promise to you, and I never break my promises. Besides, I can take care of myself. When time comes for me to face him, I'll be ready."

"Okay," Anna said, a small smile on her face. She kissed Brittany's cheek softly. "I love you so much, baby."

Brittany turned Anna's head and kissed her gently. "I love you too babe," she whispered. After a moment of silence she spoke up again. "So, we went pretty far earlier."

"Yeah, we did," Anna murmured back, taking Brittany's hand in hers and intertwining their fingers. "Hopefully next time we won't get interrupted," she added with a chuckle.

"Maybe it was a good thing we got interrupted this time. Because I know myself pretty well, and I was going to try and go all the way. And I know that you aren't ready for that so I'm actually glad Skylar interrupted us. I'm going to need to learn to control how my hormones." Brittany said giggling a little. "It won't be easy though, you're so damn sexy."

Anna blushed a little bit at Brittany's compliment. "I can say the same thing about you," she whispered back, a smile tugging at the corner of her mouth. "It's pretty hard to control myself when I'm around someone as mgorgeous as you."

"Yeah, I could tell when you were reaching to take my bra off." Brittany said, winking at Anna before kissing her lips. "I'm just lucky that I have a girlfriend as amazing and as beautiful as you."

"I'm just lucky that I have a girlfriend as kind and understanding as you are," Anna replied, smiling and leaning into the kiss.

"I guess we're pretty lucky to have each other." Brittany said with a smile.

"I agree with that," Anna said, putting her arm around Brittany's waist. A few minutes later, the train slowed to a stop, meaning that they had arrived that their destination.

Josh spoke up. "Alright guys, this is our biggest mission yet." He said. "Let's be careful, our best bet is to sink the ship without setting the nukes off. Because if we blow it up with nukes on board, that won't be good for either side." Everyone nodded in understanding. "Alright, let's go."

They opened the door of the train and stepped out onto the platform, being as quiet as possible in case there were any guards nearby. Once everyone was out of the train, they began ascending up the stairs which would lead them to the marina.

"Alright you guys," Meleike said. "I think it's best if we split up. It wouldn't be good if something went wrong and they caught us all at once. Being in smaller groups is probably our best option."

"Yeah, that's probably a good idea. How do we want to split this up? Groups of two might be a good idea," Skylar said.

"Yeah, but if we split into groups of two then someone will end up alone. There are seven of us," Josh pointed out.

"I can go alone," Anna said, raising her hand to volunteer herself.

"No, I'm not letting you go alone." Josh said. "Not after what happened at the camp in Lincoln."

"And I'm not letting you go alone either," Brittany said, nodding her head along with Josh. "I thought I lost you once, I'm not going to lose you again."

"Well you two aren't going alone either," Anna said, "Josh, I practically had to rescue you from Camp Lincoln, and we all know how that turned out. And Britt, you got captured by Heinrick in Tampa. I can't let either of you get hurt again."

"Then I'll go by myself." Everyone turned to see Dale speaking up. "I know how these guys work, I can handle it myself. Josh will go with Sky, Meleike and Ester will go together and Brittany and Anna can go together."

"Dale, you know I'm not going to leave you by yourself." Skylar said.

"Sky, I can take care of myself." Dale said, walking up and placing her hands on his shoulders. "I'm going to be okay, you have to trust me. I let you go into Camp Lincoln alone, let me do this."

Sky hesitated, but then reluctantly nodded his head. "You better be careful, Ragsdale. I don't want you getting hurt again, okay?" He said.

"You know I'll be careful Sky, I promise I will be." Dale said before leaning in and kissing him softly. After a short while Dale pulled back. "Let's go, we can't waste any time."

Josh nodded. "The shipment could be arriving at any minute, so we have to make sure we get to some high ground without being spotted. Anyone have any ideas?" He asked.

"There's probably a lighthouse nearby that Dale could go to to let us know when the shipment is coming in." Anna stated. "It's probably going to be a little more difficult to sink, my guess is they'll be expecting us so we have to be extra careful this time."

"Any other ideas?" Nobody suggested anything, so Josh looked to Dale. "Can you go look for a lighthouse? It might be a lot to ask, especially since you're going alone. But it would be a great help."

"I'll do it." Dale said nodding her head. "It's probably safer for me to be the eye in the sky rather than actually trying to sink the boat because I'm on my own. You guys get out of here, I'll take it from here." Skylar and Dale exchanged one last look before Dale vanished from sight.

"Okay, now let's go. We need to get to the marina as quickly and as quietly as possible. If one of us is spotted, all hell breaks loose," Josh said. Anna nodded, following him as they walked up the rest of the stairs.

Josh headed off with Skylar and Meleike headed in another direction with Ester. Brittany and Anna watched Dale head over to the lighthouse before looking at each other. "Are you ready babe?" Britt asked.

Anna shrugged. "I'm never really ready for this kind of thing. I guess I just have to be," she replied, watching Dale kick open the door of the lighthouse before going inside. "I just hope that things go as planned this time."

"Don't worry, it will." Brittany said, leaning over and kissing Anna's cheek. "Now, let's go stop these Healers from getting their nukes."

Anna and Brittany found a small grove of trees near the docks, which was where they decided to hide out until they were instructed by Dale to move forward. From their viewpoint, they could see at least twenty guards, maybe even more. "I'm glad we brought that extra ammunition," Anna whispered to Brittany.

"I'm glad we did too." Britt whispered back. "They're really packing on the guards, this is going to be harder than I thought." She then took out her radio. "Guys, there are at least twenty guards from where Anna and I are hiding. Is it the same for everyone else?"

Moments later, Brittany got a reply from Melieke. "Yeah, there's at least twenty here. I can see some more coming towards us. We're hiding behind an overturned vehicle," he said.

"There's too many to launch a direct attack, so we're going to have to be stealthy about this. We need to take out as many as we can without alerting the other soldiers. That way, if we do end up fighting them head on, we'll have a better chance at winning, and we'll end up taking them by surprise," Josh said through his walkie talkie.

That's when Dale spoke up through the radio. "The good news is, most of you are in an area where you can take out some of the soldiers from where you're at. Sky and Josh, I'd recommend going up to one of the balconies in that abandoned restaurant and take some out from there."

"Should we really use our guns to take them out? If we do that, we'd blow our cover. They'd be able to hear our shots. I was thinking we could try to sneak up on them and take them down with knives," Josh said.

"You have just as much of a chance of getting caught doing that Josh." Anna said. "One of our groups need to cause some kind of commotion to bring the other guards away from the rest of us. We need to lead them all to one spot without getting caught, lure them out so we can get closer."

"They're not stupid, Anna. They know that we're going to try to cause some sort of commotion to lure them out. That's exactly what we did in Tampa, and we almost lost Skylar and Brittany because of it. We need to be smarter. We have to assume that the Freedom Healers are already ten steps ahead of us," Josh argued back.

"Well, it's not like running out into the open and stabbing them with knives is any better." Anna shot back at her brother.

"Guys, less arguing. These walkie talkies aren't super quiet." Dale said, cutting off the argument.

As much as both Anna and Josh wanted to continue debating the issue, Dale was right. If they kept talking as loud as they were, they'd blow their cover, which was something they needed to avoid if they wanted to successfully stop the shipment. "Just be stealthy, Anna. Don't cause too much of a ruckus," Josh said, lowering his voice.

"Don't worry about me, Josh. I'll be fine. I can take care of myself," Anna replied.

"I hope so," Josh said before ending their radio conversation.

"He was crabby," Anna said as she put their walkie talkie down.

"Don't worry about that, he's probably just stressed about this." Brittany said before taking a look. "How are we going to get past them all? Twenty guards is a lot for two people."

"We're not going to be able to get past them all without being noticed. It's just not possible. That's why I was saying that we need to lure them away from the marina," Anna said. She sighed, running her fingers through her hair. "I'm really nervous about this," she admitted.

"Hey, look at me." Brittany said, turning Anna's head to face her. "It's going to be alright, we're going to stop them."

"And how do you know that?" Anna asked. That was when Brittany leaned in and kissed her on the lips.

"I don't, but you're the one who told me we have to believe that whatever we do is going to work." Brittany said, tucking Anna's hair back.

Anna smiled softly. "You're right," she said, taking a few deep breaths to calm herself down. "As long as we stick together, everything will be okay."

"We're stronger together babe," Brittany said smiling. "Now, what do you think will lure our guards out without blowing our cover?"

Anna bit her lip as she thought of ways to cause a distraction. She then shrugged. "Honestly, I don't know. I would suggest using one of our grenades, but we may need that for later. Do you have any suggestions?"

"Maybe we could use the dead branches over here to start a fire in the north." Brittany said, looking over at the empty streets ahead of them. "It won't blow our cover and if they see a fire and smoke, they'll have to go check it out."

"Alright, that's a pretty good idea. We don't have much else that we can do. We should probably get moving now so that we have enough time between setting the fire and the shipment arriving that we can take out the guards," Anna said, grabbing some of the dead tree branches. Brittany did the same and grabbed some tree branches before they snuck off to a street about three or so blocks from the marina.

"Okay," Britt said once they got everything set up, Britt took out her lighter that she had stolen from a soldier the night she escaped from the camp. She lit the fire and then she turned to Anna. "We need to get back before the snow gets too high."

Anna nodded and turned to head back the way that they came. Once they reached the cover of the forest, she looked back to see Brittany following close behind her. "We should probably pick up the pace a little bit, just to make sure we're long gone by the time the Healers come to investigate the fire."

"I know, it's not my fault you're a fast walker." Britt said smiling chuckling as she walked with Anna. She and Anna waited for the soldiers to notice the fire. "I hope that works."

"If it doesn't end up working, we'll just have to think of a Plan B. Right now, let's just wait and see how this ends up," Anna said, crouching behind a bush as they waited. A couple of Healers looked over and saw the smoke.

"Does anybody else see that smoke?" One of them called.

One Healer walked up beside him, and nodded once he saw it. "Send ten men over there to see what's going on."

Anna and Brittany watched in silence as ten guards began to walk in the direction of the fire. "Let's go," Anna mouthed to Brittany, starting to walk but making sure that she was careful so she didn't step on anything that would alert the Healers to their presence.

"How are we going to get rid of the other ten without being noticed?" Britt whispered as they crept closer to the open space.

"I'm still working on that part," Anna murmured as she walked along the edge of the trees. "Just follow my lead." Once the soldiers reached the clearing, Anna looked back at Brittany before she stepped out of the cover of the trees, laying down in a small ditch near the road. She turned her head, motioning for Brittany to join her. The blonde girl did so, making sure that she wasn't seen by the Freedom Healer soldiers.

"Alright, now what do we do?" Britt said. "You're better at strategizing than I am." She whispered.

Anna looked at the Freedom Healers, who were busy inspecting the fire. "I say that we try to lure one of them away from the rest. We take him out, and then keep luring them away one by one. Taking them on directly won't do any good."

"Good idea." Brittany said. She then tried to think of a way to lure the closest man near them. "What's going to get them to come near here? We have to be subtle if we're going to get them to come over here."

Anna shrugged. "Do we have anything with us that will cause a small noise? A noise loud enough to draw one soldier over here without the others suspecting something?"

Brittany bit her lip and then thought of something. "We'll probably need to come up with more ideas as we go, but let me try something." She said, before making small whimpering sound, like the sound of a lost puppy.

Anna looked at Brittany, her eyes widening. "What the hell are you doing?" She whisper-yelled.

"Will you just have a little faith in me?" Brittany said as two soldiers walked over their way because of the whimpering sound. "Just be ready."

As the soldiers got closer, Anna could make out what they were saying to one another. "What the hell? Where is this sound coming from?" One of them said as they continued to move towards where Anna and Brittany were. Brittany made the noise one more time, making a very convincing puppy noise.

"I don't know, but it sounds like dog almost," the other guy said as they made it over to the ditch. Just then, Brittany took her knife out and looked over at Anna. Anna held Brittany's gaze, taking her hunting knife out and remaining quiet.

The two soldiers looked around, still not seeing Anna and Brittany. "Maybe we were just hearing things. Let's go back," one of the soldiers said, turning to walk away.

"Now," Britt whispered. She stood up and so did Anna, Brittany used the knife to slit one soldier in the back of his knees, making him fall to ground where she caught him let him down gently before stabbing him in the chest. Anna did the same with her soldier and then they crept a little closer.

Anna looked down at the two soldiers, who had died before they even had the chance to react. "Let's see if they have anything valuable on them before we go," the brunette said as she crouched down to search one of the bodies.

"Do you think they had families or lives outside of this?" Brittany asked as they searched the soldiers. "Like, what made them join such an evil cause in the first place?" She asked shaking her head. "It almost makes me sad to think about it sometimes. Like, who are we killing? These could've been genuinely good people who were just trying to protect their families from Heinrick's wrath."

"As much as I hate to say this, we can't think about that. For all we know, they weren't good people. Good people wouldn't actively participate in trying to further the agenda of Heinrick. And while they are people, we can't let them distract us from our mission. They've brought so much pain to so many people, and we have to stop them," Anna said.

Brittany wanted to speak up, but she knew there were more important things to do. "I know, it's just doing stuff like this, it makes you wonder. That's all." She said, sighing before they thought up some other ways to get the soldiers out of the way.

"Maybe we can do a similar thing, except that one of us is injured. When the soldiers come to investigate, the other takes them out quickly," Anna suggested. She took her hunting knife, holding it above the palm of her hand. "This shouldn't hurt too bad, will it?"

"Anna, no. You're not doing that, it'll be hard enough to stop the bleeding and you're still recovering from the night at Camp Lincoln." Brittany said, pulling the knife away from her hand. "I'll do it."

Anna shook her head. "If anyone's still recovering from something, it's you. Your wrist isn't completely healed from Tampa. I'm fine. You on the other hand, your wrist still hasn't healed and it's been a while. I'll be fine, okay? I promise I'll be fine."

"You're never going to let me win an argument are you?" Brittany said. She just sighed and then looked away. "I don't want to see it, it will remind me too much of what Heinrick did to Hadley." She said, referring to when Heinrick murdered Hadley in front of her.

"I promise I'll be okay, Britt," Anna whispered, leaning in and kissing Brittany's cheek. She then took her knife and held it above her palm, taking a deep breath before sliding the blade across her skin to make a cut. "Shit," the brunette grunted, putting her knife down and holding her hand as the bleeding began. She let some of the blood drip onto the ground before she started to groan loudly in pain, trying to get the attention of the soldiers.

"Hello, is someone over there?" Three more soldier began to walk their way and Brittany got her knife ready. She hid so they would only see Anna. "Are you alrig-" the one guy didn't even get his sentence off before Brittany got up behind them and killed all three of them silently and swiftly.

While Brittany searched the bodies, Anna cut off a piece of cloth from her shirt and wrapped it around her hand to stop the bleeding. "There. That wasn't that bad, was it?" She said to Brittany.

Brittany on the other hand wasn't really wanting to look at the cut on Anna's hand. "If you say so," she said unconvincingly. "Let's just go, there are still five more soldiers." She said as they moved closer.

Anna could sense the change in Brittany's tone, but she pushed it aside as they moved forward. "Alright, what should we do now? I'm all out of ideas."

"I'm still trying to think of something else." Brittany said. She then saw a rock by Anna's foot. "Hand me that rock." She stated. When Anna did, she took it and threw it at a window of a random truck in the parking lot about fifty yards away. The rest of the soldiers ran over to investigate and Brittany grabbed Anna's hand. "Hurry!"

Anna and Brittany started to run, although Anna had no idea where they were going. "What are we doing? Where are we going?" Anna asked as they ran in the opposite direction of the soldiers.

"We're just getting closer to the docks." Brittany said, running quickly but quietly. "Just, trust me okay?" She said.

"Okay, I trust you. I still don't know what we're doing, but that's okay I guess," Anna said as she followed Brittany towards the docks.

Brittany pulled them to a small boat on the docks before turning around and looking at Anna. "You know, this is kind of a stressful situation for the both of us. And I'm doing what I can to keep up from blowing this whole mission and getting killed. So if you trust me, will you stop questioning my every movement, I'm trying to strategize. I'm trying to keep us safe." She said, running her hands through hair as she paced back and forth. "I'm just as scared as you are Anna, and the constant questions about 'where are we going?' or 'what the hell are you doing?' isn't really helping."

Anna held up her hands as if she was surrendering. "I'm sorry for asking so many questions. It's just that when you throw a rock and then tell me to run, I'm going to end up being a little bit confused. I know that you're doing your best to keep us safe, and I appreciate that a lot. I'll try not to ask so many questions from now on," the brunette said.

Brittany sighed again, before sitting down in the cabin of the boat. She put her head in her hands and groaned softly. She then spoke on the radio. "Anna and I are on one of the boats. How is everyone else's situation?" She asked before listening in. Anna looked at her hand then at Brittany. Knowing that after what she said had happened to Hadley, and how Heinrick had murdered her in front of Britt by basically cutting her deeply and letting her bleed out; Anna realized that's why she didn't watch Anna cutting herself.

"We're good over here. Meleike and I are about to take out some guards as soon as they walk towards us," Ester replied over the walkie talkie.

"Ester, the guards are heading for you now. Turn off your radios and get ready," Dale said.

Brittany stayed tuned to listen to the others for a while. Every now and then she would look at Anna's hand, she would shiver as she tried to get the images out of her head so she didn't have a panic attack. Anna noticed Brittany kept looking at her hand, so she turned away from Brittany a little bit.

"Anna? Brittany? Are you guys there? There's at least ten soldiers heading towards the docks with the small boats," Dale said. "Do you think you can handle them?"

"We'll do our best." Brittany said over the radio before. She then got a couple throwing knives out and looked at Anna. "Are you ready?"

Anna was holding her hunting knife in one hand and her pistol in the other, which she would only use unless she absolutely had to. She nodded towards Brittany. "Yeah, I'm ready."

Brittany nodded before they climbed off of the boat. The young blonde crept behind it to keep from being seen. "I'll take out the five on the left, you go for the five on the right. Okay?"

Anna nodded, watching the soldiers approaching from her side. "Let's wait and see how close they actually get to the boat before doing anything," she whispered to Brittany.

"I agree," Brittany said, nodding her head. She peaked out and saw some soldiers walking along the docks entrance before she turned back to Anna. "There are about ten, just like Dale said. Although, none of them are entering here, so they may just be guarding it."

"If they're guarding the boat, we may be stuck here for a while. They'll probably leave once the big shipment gets here, so we'll just have to wait this one out," Anna murmured back.

Brittany nodded. She then sat against some crates and sighed softly. Anna took notice of this and asked. "Is everything okay? Did I do something or say something to offend you?"

"No, Anna. It's not you. It's just that-" Brittany said, pausing. "You know how Hadley died, right?" Anna nodded, so the blonde girl continued. "Seeing you cut yourself with the knife reminded me of that."

"Is that why you wanted to do it instead of me?" Anna asked.

"Yeah," Britt said. "It just kind was hard to for me to see, I was scared that seeing you do that would cause me to have panic attack because well, that's where Heinrick started..." She just stopped, not really being able to finish the sentence.

Anna looked down, feeling a wave of guilt hit her. "I'm really sorry, Britt. I didn't know that's where he started. If I had known, I wouldn't have suggested that. I'm really sorry," she said, looking back to Brittany.

"It's okay, you didn't know. Let's just not talk about it anymore, please." Brittany said, leaning her head against the crate, closing her eyes. "If I keep on talking about it I may have a panic attack and I don't want to mess this mission up."

Anna nodded and didn't bring it up again out of respect for Brittany's request. The two of them sat there in silence for a while, unsure what to say to one another.

Suddenly, there was a loud sound, one that sounded all-too familiar. "Holy shit, what was that? That sounded like an explosion!" Anna exclaimed, grabbing the walkie talkie. "Guys, what's going on?" She said through the radio

"Someone stepped on a landmine!" Dale said. "Is everyone okay? Hello!"

"We're fine," Britt said.

"So are we," Ester answered, then they waited for a response from Skylar and Josh.

"Hello? Skylar and Josh, do you come in?" Dale said. "Come in you two! If you're anywhere near where that landmine went off you need to get out of there! Every guard is headed your way!"

Anna looked and saw that the guards standing near the boat were long gone. "Oh shit," the brunette thought to herself, "If they even survived the explosion, there's no way they'll be able to take on all the guards by themselves."

"Josh and Skylar, do you come in?" Dale asked, her voice getting more and more frantic.

"I have to go look for them," Anna said, grabbing her gun and her bullets.

"What? No!" Brittany said, grabbing Anna and pulling her back. "Are you insane? Thirty guards are headed over there now, you're strong but you can't take on thirty men and once. We couldn't do that together, let alone by ourselves." She said.

"But Josh, he's my brother. I can't just let them capture him." Anna said, trying to get loose from Brittany's grip. "Let me go!"

"No! I can't let you go. I-I won't let you go," Brittany said, her voice cracking with emotion. She felt tears welling up in her eyes. "The last time I let you go after your brother, you almost died. And I was right there. I watched your body get thrown up into the air by the explosion. I watched you fall into the sinkhole, and there was nothing that I could do to help you. I can't go through that again, Anna. I just can't."

"He's my brother, Brittany." Anna said. "I can't just leave him to get captured and killed."

"What about your promise to me? The promise you made before you broke it once at Camp Lincoln? That you'd never leave my side in cases like this where I may have a panic attack? Do the promises you make to me mean nothing to you? I can't go through what I went through, not again." Brittany said, crying at this point.

"Of course those promises mean something to me, Britt. They mean everything to me." Anna said, taking Britt's hand. "Josh is my brother, and Skylar is our friend. I have to go save them."

"There's nothing I can do to convince you stay is there?" Brittany said, pulling her hand away from Anna's. "Just go, obviously your promises don't mean anything otherwise you'd be staying and not going to try and get yourself killed again." She said before getting up and turning away from Anna, trying to stop crying.

"I may have broken the promise of always staying by your side, but I didn't break the other promise I made. I promised that I would come back to you, and I did. I'm not going to break that promise. I will come back to you, Brittany. Please, just trust me. I have to do this, and you know it," Anna said. She stood up, loading her pistol with some bullets. "I love you. I will come back to you."

Brittany didn't turn around, she just stood there sniffling and trying to keep from letting too many tears fall from her cheeks. Anna's heart broke when Brittany didn't say anything, but she took a deep breath and then turned around, heading to the smoke of the explosion.

The explosion site was a lot closer than Anna expected it to be. She slowly walked forward, the smoke becoming too thick for her to see. Anna held her pistol up, knowing that there would be guards nearby. However, the smoke was too much, and she considered turning around before she heard a faint coughing sound. "Josh? Skylar? Is that you?"

"Anna?" Skylar called out. "Anna, what are you doing? You're supposed to be with Brittany."

"I had to come find you two and see if you were okay." Anna said once she made it over to Skylar. "What happened? Where's Josh?"

"I stepped on a landmine by accident and it blew us one hundred feet in opposite directions." Skylar said, coughing a bit more. He looked over and saw some soldiers over by where Josh had been tossed to by the explosion. "Get down!" He whisper yelled. The two of them hid behind a dumpster.

"It's one of those rebels." One of the men said. "Let's take him back to base."

"No, we can't let them take him!" Anna said before Skylar pulled her down.

"If you go out there they'll kill you Anna, don't move." Skylar said, holding her back.

"Skylar, they'll kill him if they take him! I can't let them take him! Let me go!" Anna said, trying as hard as she could to get free from Skylar's hold. He didn't budge, however, and Anna eventually stopped fighting against his grip. "I have to rescue him, Skylar. I have to go get him!"

"And if you go out there now they'll kill you both!" Skylar said. "We have to stop the shipment, then we will get to Josh. If you go out there, you're risking his life and yours. Don't do it, Anna." He stated, looking into her eyes sternly. "There's nothing we can do about it right now. We have to finish the job we came here to do."

Anna watched helplessly as two of the soldiers dragged Josh's unconscious body away, tears filling her eyes. "I'm going to find you, big brother, and I'm going to kill every single person who hurts you," she whispered, a few tears falling down her face.

Brittany meanwhile had caught sight of the big boat with shipment, and knew exactly how to sink it. She jumped into the water and swam towards it, not think about the terribly cold weather. She then swam to the back of the boat and got on it.

Once she got inside she realized the floor was made of wood. She looked around at all of the nukes that were on the boat and gulped before she got to work. Brittany took out her gun and began shooting at the wooden floor, instantly making a hole. Once water began flushing in, she began started shooting another hole to make the water come in quicker. She kept on doing that until there were six or seven big holes in the wooden boat floor before she started running back to where she had gotten on the boat, getting there just as the water got too deep to run in.

The soldiers had disappeared from sight, so Skylar and Anna began to walk back towards the docks. That was when they looked up and saw a huge boat coming in. "There it is. That's the shipment," Skylar said. The boat was bigger than any they'd ever seen, meaning that there must be more nukes inside than they had thought. "We have to come up with a plan for sinking that ship."

That was when the boat began to lurch and creek, and water began to spit out of the sides in big holes. Anna looked at the docks for any sign of Britt but she wasn't there. "We may not have to," she said. She had a feeling Brittany was on that boat.

The blonde jumped off the boat and began to swim towards the shore as the boat began to sink slowly but surely. Anna heard a splash and saw Brittany swimming towards the shore, which didn't surprise her. Anna started to run to the shore, looking around her to make sure that there were no guards following them. She reached the shore just as Brittany was coming out of the water. "Hey, you did it."

Brittany's teeth were chattering and her lips were blue from the cold water and air temperature. The girl was shivering greatly and fell to the ground, not gaining any warmth from the damp sand. "I'm c-cold," she stuttered, feeling as if her body had frozen up. "I can't breathe."

"Hey, it's okay Britt. Here," Anna said. She took off her jacket and draped it over the blonde's shoulders. She then picked her up, carrying her away from the shore and back to the dock. "Skylar! I need you to find me some blankets now!" She then got on her walkie talkie. "Everyone, Britt needs to get warm ASAP, meet us at the boats with whatever you can find!" She then brought Brittany onto a bigger boat than the one they had waited by earlier. The blonde girl, who felt as if her fingers and toes were coming off, took off her shoes and socks to get her wet socks and shoes off.

"Anna, I found as many blankets as I could," Skylar said. "But we need to find her some dry clothes. Her wet clothes could cause hypothermia."

"Okay, can you look around the boat for some dry clothes? I'll help her take off her wet clothes," Anna said. Skylar nodded and went to look for some dry clothes for Brittany. Anna then turned to the blonde, who was still shivering. "Hey, it's going to be okay. We're going to get you warmed up, I promise," Anna said, helping Brittany take off her wet clothes and get wrapped up in the blankets that Skylar had found while they waited.

"W-where's J-Josh?" Brittany stuttered as she tried to get warm.

"The Healers got to him before I could save him and they took him as a hostage." Anna said, looking down. "I'd prefer if we didn't talk about it right now."

Brittany nodded as she tried to keep warm. Anna didn't know whether it would be okay for her to kiss Brittany or hug her at that point considering how Brittany had acted before Anna went to help Josh and Skylar. She then thought about how Brittany had risked her life to sink the ship, even though they didn't ask her to. While they might not have been on good terms in that moment, their argument didn't matter. What mattered was keeping Brittany warm until Skylar found some dry clothes.

Anna sat down next to Brittany, wrapping her arms around the blonde girl and pulling her in for a hug. "It's going to be okay, Britt. I promise," she whispered.

"Just g-get me some warm, dry c-clothes and I'll be f-fine," Brittany said, letting Anna hug her.

Skylar, Dale, Ester and Meleike joined them a couple minutes later. "I managed to find some warm clothes, Britt." Skylar said. "Turns out whoever used to own this boat was a rich person who loved to sail. A lot of clothes were left on board." He said, handing her a sweatshirt, a sports bra and a warm hat and some sweatpants and fuzzy socks.

"Thank-k you, Sky." Brittany said before to go change.

"Anna, why didn't you stay with Britt? She just nearly got herself killed because you went away from the plan." Dale said, folding her arms and raising her eyebrows at the young brunette.

Anna frowned at the harsh tone of Dale's voice. "If I hadn't left Brittany to go to the explosion site, your boyfriend would also be a hostage of the Freedom Healers. No, I shouldn't have left Brittany and I didn't want to, but I had to save Josh and Skylar. I didn't get my brother, but I got Skylar, so you should really be thanking me," Anna snapped.

"Thanking you? In case you haven't noticed Anna, but Brittany could still die from hypothermia. Your brother is hostage of the Healers. Yes, I'm thankful that you got Skylar, but that doesn't change the fact that you almost and could still lose your girlfriend and your brother. Who are like the siblings I haven't had in a long time." Dale said, snapping back at Anna. "Your girlfriend practically begged you not to go but you still left after you know what she's gone through! And sure she may have stopped the shipment but she nearly lost her life! You left her like it was nothing, like she was the last thing on your list of priorities." She said before storming off into one of the bedrooms that the boat had.

Something within Anna snapped, and she followed Dale, who slammed the door in her face. Anna pounded her fist on the door. "Do you honestly think that I don't feel guilty? I feel guilty for every single thing that I've done in my life! I feel guilty for every single person I've killed! I feel guilty for every person who's died because of me, and I feel even more guilty for the friends that have died because of me. You have no idea what I've been through! You have no idea what it's like to have been on the run since you were five years old! I grew up running from the Freedom Healers, god forbid that now I'm old enough to fight back that I actually try to save the goddamn world!"

That's when Skylar stepped between Anna and the door. "Let's not do this now okay? It's been a stressful night for us all and we need to get some rest."

"But she has no righ-" Anna started.

"I don't care about that right now Anna," Skylar said sternly. "Everyone here needs time to cool off and then we need to get up in the morning and keeping moving to try and get Josh back."

As much as Anna wanted to argue, she sighed and then stepped back. Skylar then turned around to face the door of the room Dale had gone into. "Just, go check on Brittany." He said before opening the door and going inside.

Anna stood there for a few moments before walking back down the hall to the main room, where Brittany was sitting. "Hey," Anna said quietly, sitting down beside the blonde. "Are you feeling any better or getting any warmer?"

"I'm getting there." Brittany said, shivering a little still as she put on the hat. "Are you okay?" She asked, getting a confused look from Anna. "Oh come on, you really think I didn't hear that brief screaming match out there between you and Dale? I have ears and these boat walls are pretty thin." She stated.

"She got mad at me because she said I was treating you like you were my last priority." Anna said, rolling her eyes. "Which is stupid that she would even say that, because it's not true at all."

"Anna, I hate to sound rude or selfish." Brittany said, pausing for a moment. "But that's kind of how it felt tonight." Brittany said, looking down and trying to keep warm. "I begged you to stay and you still left me when you know about the panic attacks that I get. I understand that Josh is your brother, but can you understand why you leaving me on the dock made me feel that way? You left me for the second time to go find your brother. Yes you're alright this time but I almost lost you the first time in Lincoln. So when you just left again without a second thought, well it didn't feel good."

Anna looked down, her heart hurting as she listened to what Brittany was saying. "I-I don't know what to say. I'm sorry, Britt. I really am. I never wanted to make you feel like you're my last priority, because you're not. Meeting you was the best thing that has ever happened to me. If I didn't have you in my life, I wouldn't be anywhere near as happy as I am now. I'm sorry. I know I should have stayed. I'm sorry," she said in a quiet voice.

"If you know you should've stayed, why didn't you?" Brittany asked. "I'm not saying this to upset you, I just want to know, why?" She asked, still shivering a little.

"I guess I just-I just felt like I had to get Josh out of there. He's been protecting me for the last seventeen years of my life. I knew that if I let him get captured, I wouldn't be able to live with myself. But even though I left, I still didn't save him, and now he might be gone forever," Anna said, sniffling a little bit.

"You're going to get him back," Brittany said. "You just h-have to believe in it." She stuttered as she continued to shiver. "Josh is strong, he won't get killed or hurt. He's too tough, just like you."

"But what if I don't save him? What if I lose him? I don't know what I'll do without him," Anna said, close to crying now.

"Anna," Britt stated, turning Anna's head so they were face to face. "You're going to get him back, you have to believe that otherwise there is no hope." She knew her lips were still extremely cold but she leaned in and kissed Anna on the lips, trying to reassure her.

Anna closed her eyes as she leaned into the kiss, a couple tears falling down her face as she did so. She was a bit surprised by how cold Brittany's lips still were. "I'm so sorry, Britt. I never should have left you. I'm so sorry," she said once their lips parted.

"It's alright Anna, you don't have to apologize anymore." Brittany whispered. "I'm here, I'm alive."

"If I hadn't left, you wouldn't be in this position in the first place. It's my fault that you almost died," Anna said, turning away from Brittany.

"Anna, no it's not." Brittany said, taking Anna's hand. "I made the choice to jump in the water, I made the choice to sink the boat on my own. I would've done it whether you'd left or not."

Anna looked at Brittany. "But I still can't help but feel guilty because I left, especially after all the things Dale said," the brunette said, a hint of sadness in her voice.

"What all did Dale say? I didn't hear everything." Brittany asked, a look of confusion on her face.

"She basically told me that even though I saved Skylar from the Healers, I still made the wrong choice by leaving you. And that might be true, but it just seemed like she wasn't grateful. I could have saved Josh instead of Skylar, but I didn't, and it seems like Dale doesn't really appreciate the fact that I chose her boyfriend over my own brother," Anna replied.

"You didn't choose to save Skylar, Anna." Britt said. "You just found him first, there's a difference." She rubbed Anna's shoulder. "At first I was upset at you for leaving. But I realized he was your brother, he's more important than I am."

"It's not that he's more important than you. It's just that I felt obligated to rescue him. He promised my parents that he'd look after me, and he has. It wouldn't be right if I left him to die when he needed my help," Anna said.

"Anna, I'm not upset with you. Okay? And Josh is more important than me, he's your brother. You two have been looking after each other for the majority of your guys lives. I would've done the same thing." Brittany said, squeezing Anna's hand. "The main reason I was so scared to let you go was because I was frightened by the last time you left to go find Josh at Camp Lincoln. I was more upset with the thought of losing you than I was with you."

"Are you sure that you're not mad at me anymore?" Anna asked. "Because I totally understand if you still are. You have every right to be upset with me. I just wanted to know," she added.

"I was scared of losing you, but now that I know you're okay, I'm okay." Brittany said, smiling the best she could as she tried to warm up. "Just promise me something," she said. When Anna nodded, she continued. "Don't make promises that you say you're going to keep when you know deep down you won't."

Anna nodded. "That seems fair enough," she said, squeezing Brittany's hand. "I promise that from now on, all the promises I make are going to be promises that I keep," she said.

"Good." Brittany said, climbing under the covers of the bed. "Now will you cuddle me, I'm still really cold."

"Of course," Anna replied, pulling the covers over them and moving closer to Brittany, wrapping her arms around the blonde girl's waist. "I love you," she whispered. Brittany finally began to warm up as Anna pulled their bodies close together, her lips starting to return to their normal coloar

"I love you too," Brittany whispered. The sun was just beginning to rise, but the two of them closed their eyes, trying their best to get some sleep.

 **So, a lot happened in this chapter. Britt nearly died of hypothermia, Josh has been taken captive of the Freedom Healers, and some tension has made it's way between Dale and Anna. Keep reading to find out what's happening next.**

 **Until next time,**

 **Gabi and Elle.**


	12. Chapter 11: Undress Rehearsal

Chapter 11: Undress Rehearsal

The six decided to get some sleep on the big sailboat, everyone drained from the night before. Brittany was still really cold when she woke up, so she decided to take a hot shower in the full bathroom on the boat to try and warm up. Cuddling with Anna had helped a lot, but it turns out jumping into the freezing ocean in the middle of winter isn't really the smartest thing for a person to do.

They all managed to get a decent night's sleep, even though so much had happened the day before. When they all woke up, they packed up their things before meeting to decide what to do about Josh being taken hostage. "I say that we follow whatever trail the Healers left behind. That will take us right to their base, and right to Josh," Anna said.

"I agree, the Healers don't really think about what they leave behind." Ester said as she took a sip of water. Brittany then walked out into the main room in just a towel wrapped around her body. The shower had definitely helped her get warm, and she was now walking out to get a drink of water before heading back into the room to get changed, Anna's eyes following her closely, smiling at her girlfriend's beautiful form. That's when Ester smirked and cleared her throat.

"Let's finished getting ready and packed up so that we can leave. While we know the Healers have left a trail, we don't know how long the trail will stay, especially with the way that it's been snowing lately," Ester said to everyone.

"Yeah, we should probably get going, but we shouldn't go on foot, it's too cold and Brittany is still recovering from frostbite." Anna said.

"Well how do you suppose we go then? It's not like we can take this boat to the base. The only way that we can get to the base is following on the trail, and there aren't a lot of vehicles around here," Dale said to Anna, a hint of contempt still in her voice from her argument with Anna.

"We'll hotwire some cars." Anna said, avoiding direct eye contact with Dale. "It'll be better than traveling on foot in the cold. we do, we could all get frostbite or hypothermia."

Dale crossed her arms. "Well, does anyone here even know how to hotwire a car? And even if we successfully hotwire the car, what if there's no gas? What do we do then?"

"Why don't we worry about those problems if we come across them? It's no use worrying about potential problems, especially if we're not currently facing them. Let's just look for a car now and worry about everything else later," Anna replied coldly.

"You know, you're lucky your girlfriend still even trusts you after you left her a second time." Dale stated.

"Enough with that already, Dale!" Anna shot back. "I could've just ditched your boyfriend's sorry ass! You could be a little more grateful!"

"Stop it you two!" Skylar said, jumping between them before it got too nasty. "Your guys arguing isn't going to get anywhere."

"Skylar's right, it's better we focus on right now rather than what happened last night." Brittany added. "Let's just focus on getting Josh back."

"Yeah, let's focus on getting Josh back," Ester said, "Nobody seems to have any other ideas, so let's go find a car and attempt to hotwire it. If that doesn't work, we'll come back here and think of another plan. Does that sound good?" Everyone nodded. "Alright, then let's get to it."

"We'll split up. Anna, Dale. You two are going to be in a group together, so you can work out your differences." Skylar stated. "Brittany and Ester will go together and Melieke will be with me." Both Anna and Dale groaned but nodded.

As everyone got ready for the day, Anna stood in front of the mirror putting on a winter jacket and her head under a hat to keep warm. She then felt a pair of familiar arms wrap around her. "Do I have to go with Dale?" Anna sighed.

"Yes, you do. You two need to figure out how to not go at each other's throats every time you see each other. It's causing a lot of tension between everyone, not just you and her," Brittany murmured in Anna's ear. "Trust me, it'll be fine."

"She'll probably throw me in a ditch and leave me there." Anna deadpanned, biting her lip and trying not to roll her eyes. "I know I shouldn't have left you, but she doesn't need to keep beating a dead horse."

"Well, if she has any common sense at all, she won't try to abandon you in a ditch because she'd face my wrath if she did so," Brittany replied, making Anna smile a little bit. "I'm sure it will go by a lot faster if you two just try to talk things out right off the bat. That way, you won't be trying to kill each other the whole time." Brittany said.

Anna nodded then turned around and then placed her hands on Britt's waist. "I'm sorry again for leaving you last night, I broke the same promise twice and I usually never break a promise once." She said, leaning her forehead against Brittany's. "Dale did have a point when she said I was lucky you still trust me, I don't deserve your trust, let alone your love."

"Well, her point is wrong. You do deserve my trust, and you certainly deserve my love. You're the light for me in all this darkness, Anna. Sure, you might've slipped up, but we all do. We're human. None of us is perfect. Don't listen to anyone who tells you that you don't deserve my love, because you do," Brittany replied, closing the distance between their lips and kissing Anna. The brunette pulled Brittany closer and kissed her back.

"You're wrong you know? You're perfect, you're beyond perfect." Anna murmured once their lips parted. "I honestly wonder sometimes if you're actually human." She said, smiling gently at her girlfriend. "You're funny, smart, and kind. Not to mention absolutely beautiful. This morning when you walked out in the towel, I couldn't take my eyes off of you."

Brittany giggled at Anna's words. "Yeah, I noticed that you couldn't take your eyes off of me. It was like I had you hypnotized or something," the blonde said, smiling and biting her lip.

"Well, as I learned last night, your body is sexy as hell." Anna whispered, smiling back at Brittany. "You have no idea how much I wanted you last night before we had to go to stop the shipment, it took every ounce of my strength to not take it further."

"And I thought I was the one who had to restrain myself," Brittany said, playfully raising an eyebrow at Anna. "Turns out that I'm not the only one who needs to keep her hormones in check."

"Can you blame me, Britt?" Anna whispered, smiling softly at Brittany. "You're so beautiful, so wonderful. Every time you kiss me, it's like alcohol. I get drunk off the taste of your lips, I get buzzed off the feeling of your breath on my lips. It's like you're a drug, but you're good for me, that I've become addicted to." She murmured, kissing Brittany's lips again, slowly and deeply.

Brittany blushed, smiling and leaning into the second kiss. "Well, you're full of compliments today," she said with a giggle. "And for the record, I feel the same way about you, babe. The exact same way," she whispered, looking into Anna's eyes.

"Every time you look at me like that, it makes me want to shove you against a wall and kiss you." Anna whispered back.

"I would tell you to do that, but we should get going," Brittany said with an apologetic smile. "We don't want Josh to be a hostage any longer than he already has been."

"If Dale comes back without me, she's killed me." Anna said jokingly, kissing Brittany softly.

"She won't kill you. Just go figure everything out." Brittany said before kissing her girlfriend one more time and heading out to meet everyone else. Anna sighed, knowing that Brittany was right, and followed her girlfriend out to meet the others, who were waiting for them.

"Alright, so we already know the groups that we're going to be in. We'll all be looking for a car and attempting to hotwire it. If one of us succeeds, we use our walkie talkie to let the others know so that we can find you," Skylar said.

Brittany kissed Anna's cheek before whispering, "Be nice," in her ear before heading off with Ester. Anna nodded reluctantly and looked over at Dale, who gave her boyfriend a kiss before letting him walk away with Meleike.

The groups went in different directions, Anna and Dale deciding to head northwest. There was minimal talking between them as they walked, neither one of them wanting to talk to the other. Then Anna remembered what Brittany had told her. "Start talking right off the bat so you're not trying to kill each other the entire time."

Anna nodded her head and then spoke up. "Look, I think everyone was right for pairing us up today, we need to sort out our differences. It'll be better not just for us but for the group. So if you have a problem with me, tell me now and I'll tell you my problems so we can try working it out."

"I think that I've already made it pretty clear what my problems with you are, so why don't you go ahead and tell me what problems you have with me," Dale replied.

"Alright, I'll tell you." Anna said, taking a deep breath as they continued to walk along a sidewalk, keeping their eyes out for cars. "I feel like you should be a little bit more grateful, I saved Skylar from getting captured. The fact that I left Britt by herself was stupid, I know that. But you had no right to judge me for my decision. There are so many things I feel guilty for in my life and I don't need you constantly reminding me of the mistake I made last night. If it had been you in my situation, if you had to have left Brittany to go get Skylar, you would've left her and you know it."

Dale was silent for a few minutes, not sure how she should respond to Anna. "You're right. I would have left to get Skylar," she finally said, looking down at the ground as they continued to walk. "If it had been me, I would have done the exact same thing in a heartbeat."

"I know I should've stayed with Brittany, but Josh is my brother. I couldn't just stay there without going to try and help him, if I could've done something to help him I would've." Anna said, stopping in her tracks. "That said, I still feel terrible for leaving Brittany because I broke a promise for the second time. But when you yelled at me, it only made me feel worse about the whole ordeal, like I had failed Brittany."

Dale was quiet for a second time. "I shouldn't have yelled at you like that, Anna. Yesterday was just a really stressful day, and I saw an opportunity to release my stress and anger on someone, and that someone just happened to be you. I apologize for that. You didn't deserve it."

Anna nodded. "I accept your apology, and I apologize for yelling back. It didn't make things any better." She said genuinely. She then held out a peace offering hand, hoping Dale would shake it. "Are we good here?"

Dale hesitated for a moment before shaking Anna's hand. "Yeah, we're good." After a silence between them, Dale cleared her throat. "Now let's go find a car and hotwire it."

Anna nodded and then they turned and continued looking for a car. They searched for about an hour or so before they found a big maroon pickup truck. Anna walked up to it and grabbed a knife, unlocking the door. She then chuckled.

"What is it?" Dale asked.

"No need to hotwire it, the keys are right here in the seat." Anna said, climbing into the driver's seat, turning the key in the ignition. When the car started, Anna smiled widely. "And it has a full tank of gas, let's tell everyone to meet back at the dock and then we will get out of here."

Dale took their walkie talkie out and told everyone to head back to the dock since they had found a working truck. "Alright, everyone's heading back now," she told Anna, opening the passenger side door and climbing inside the truck. As soon as Dale got her seatbelt on, Anna drove them the short distance back to the docks.

Everyone got back within twenty minutes considering they didn't go very far in that hour. Brittany got in the middle front seat next to Anna, and Ester, Meleike and Skylar got in the back. Anna started driving again, following the tracks of the Healers' tires from their trucks.

"So, I'm assuming that you two worked things out since you're not arguing," Brittany said to both Anna and Dale, who laughed.

"Yeah, we worked things out. We're on good terms now, right Dale?" Anna said.

"Yes, that is right." Dale said, smiling the girl in the driver's seat. Anna continued to drive until they reached a highway, where the tracks ended.

"Fuck," Anna said sighing. "How the hell are we going to track them if we don't even know where they which way they went on the interstate?"

Everyone was silent before Meleike spoke up. "I guess there's only one way we'll find out. We have to take one way, and if it doesn't lead to the Freedom Healer base, then we turn around and take the other way," he said.

"We could drive across the whole country and not find anything," Skylar said.

"And if that's what it takes, then that's what we will do." Anna said. "We'll head west first since we're basically a five miles from the coast, then we'll go east." Everyone nodded in agreement and then they drove to the coast. They didn't find anything out there, so Anna turned the truck around and started heading east.

By the time they got back to the fork in the interstate, night had already fallen. Since Anna had been driving most of the time, she agreed to switch with Skylar and take his place in the back of the truck with Ester and Meleike.

"The back seat is pretty tight, let's have Brittany and Dale come back here. Ester, Meleike and I have been sitting in the back all day." Skylar said. Once everyone had been situated, Brittany was sitting in the middle, her arm linked with Anna's and her head was resting on Anna's shoulder.

"This must be pretty comfortable for you, huh?" Anna said to Brittany with a smile. "I don't think you've moved at all in the last half hour."

"It's the only way I'm comfortable, plus you're really warm and I'm cold from walking outside in the cold all day. It must be my Florida roots, I don't like the cold." Brittany whispered, holding Anna close. "You know something that would make me feel better?"

"Unfortunately I can't read minds, so no, I don't know what would make you feel better. Can you give me an idea of what that might be?" Anna replied.

Brittany leaned in and connected their lips in the dark car, lingering there a while with their lips attached. They molded together perfectly and Anna cupped Britt's cheek, kissing her back.

Anna only pulled away when she needed to catch her breath, and she smiled at Brittany. "I'm assuming that's the something that will make you feel better?"

"Mhmm," Brittany whispered, biting her lip as she smiled. "I plan on doing it more when we stop for the night." She whispered, tugging at Anna's bottom lip with her teeth.

Anna groaned softly, smiling and getting excited for when they stopped. "We should find a hotel for the night, we didn't get a lot of rest last night and there are plenty of hotels still in business along the highway."

Brittany nodded. "Yeah, a good night's rest would be beneficial for all of us, especially since this weather has been so brutal," she murmured back, leaning her forehead against Anna's. Anna smiled and kissed Brittany's nose.

"Well, we're in luck, because there's a hotel at the next exit." Skylar said. "We'll check in there and stay for the night."

Once they checked into a nice little hotel, the three couples got three different rooms. Anna and Brittany got to their room and instantly began making out. "I've been wanting to do this all day," Anna mumbled softly as her lips connected with Brittany's in a passionate kiss. Anna pulled Brittany over to the bed, their lips still connected.

"Believe me, I've been wanting to do it all day too babe," Brittany whispered, running her hands through Anna's hair. Before they fell on the bed, Brittany stopped. "I don't want to go all the way, but I was wondering if maybe you wanted to take a shower with me?"

"A shower would be great," Anna replied, breaking the kiss and sitting up. She followed Brittany to the bathroom. "Do you want me to wait out here while you undress?" Anna asked.

Brittany shook her head. "I want you to undress me." She whispered, pulling Anna inside the bathroom with her. She turned the shower on, making sure the water was warm. Then she turned back to Anna.

Anna smiled at Brittany, looking down at the floor and shuffling her feet awkwardly. She didn't want to admit it to Brittany, but she felt a little bit nervous for some reason, and she couldn't quite figure out why.

"It's okay if you're a bit nervous babe." Brittany whispered, holding Anna's hands in her own. "If it helps in any way, I'm pretty nervous too. We're about to see each other naked for the first time." She said, leaning in and kissing her lips. When she pulled back she took a deep breath. "Are you ready?"

Anna hesitated, taking a few deep breaths to calm her nerves. She then slowly nodded her head. "Yeah, I'm ready," she said softly, looking into Brittany's eyes. "I'm ready if you are."

Britt smiled and then leaned in and kissed Anna's lips one more time. "You're beautiful to me," she whispered before letting Anna take off her jacket and shirt.

"Thank you, babe," Anna murmured back as the kiss grew a little more heated. They slowly began to take each other's clothes off, the kiss intensifying as they did so. Anna could feel her heartbeat quickening, and continued taking Britt's clothes off as they continued to kiss each other passionately.

Once both of them were completely naked, they took a step back to admire each other. Anna bit her lip and smiled, taking her hair out of the bun it was in while Britt left it in a braid. Anna then reached out and pulled Brittany into the the steam-filled shower. "You are so beautiful, Brittany. So, so beautiful."

Brittany smiled, letting her eyes travel up and down Anna's body for another time. "You're not too bad yourself, Kendrick," she replied before winking at her girlfriend. Anna pulled Brittany's body against her own, letting the water fall upon them. She placed her hands on Brittany's hips and began to kiss her gently.

With their bodies pulled flush against each other, Brittany let out a soft moan. "Mmm, Anna." She whispered. "This is perfect."

Anna smirked to herself, deepening the kiss by sliding her tongue across Brittany's bottom lip. "Yeah, this is perfect," she murmured back.

Brittany ran her hands along the back of Anna's neck, holding her close as their lips connected. She'd never felt so loved and safe inside, being with Anna was beyond perfect. She backed up against the wall and pulled Anna with her.

Anna gently pushed Brittany up against the wall of the shower, placing her hands on the wall on either side of the blonde's body. "I love you," she whispered, looking into Brittany's eyes.

"I love you too," Brittany whispered, holding Anna close to her. "Shit," she gasped when Anna's teeth began making love bites on the skin of her neck.

"Believe me, baby. This is only a fraction of how good it will feel when we go all the way together," Anna whispered.

"Oh my god Anna," Brittany moaned, holding Anna's head against her neck. She truly enjoyed the feeling she was getting at the moment. "Please, don't stop." She murmured.

Anna smirked again, loving the reactions that she was getting from Brittany. "I won't stop unless you tell me too," she murmured back, running her tongue over each bite she had left.

"Shit babe," Brittany whispered, just allowing Anna to do most of the work. "That feels so good."

"I'm glad babe," Anna whispered before moving her lips further down to Brittany's chest, right above her breasts. Anna's hand that wasn't tangling itself in Brittany's blonde hair began massaging one of her boobs as their lips reconnecting, instantly re-engaging in a tongue battle. "Tell me how this feels," Anna whispered, knowing it was driving Britt crazy.

Sure enough, Brittany was loving everything that Anna was doing at that moment. "Anna, I-" She said, biting down on her lip before she moaned. "It's so good."

"I know baby," Anna whispered, smirking and kissing Brittany roughly as their bodies pressed together in the steamy shower. "You're so beautiful," She whispered, moving her lips back to Brittany's chest, starting to suck softly on her boob, causing an instant moan from Brittany.

"How are you so good at this?" Brittany mumbled under her breath, running her fingers through Anna's hair and tugging at the ends. "Fuck, this is good," she moaned.

"Oh Britt, I just know what you like." Anna murmured, moving her mouth over to Brittany's other breast where she began swirling her tongue around. Brittany's moans turned Anna on like crazy and started sucking hickeys into Brittany's chest.

Brittany was unable to keep herself from moaning as Anna continued her ministrations. Brittany was experiencing so many feelings at once—pleasure, love, lust—that it was hard to distinguish between them. "Fuck, Anna!"

Anna smirked at Brittany cursed her name and then moved her lips up behind Brittany's ear, sucking softly on her weak spot while her hands moved down to Brittany's bum, where she began massaging her cheeks just like she did with her breasts. "You're so hot when you moan because of me." She whispered in Brittany's ear before sucking on her skin again.

"You're so good at making me moan," Brittany mumbled back, closing her eyes and sighing with content as Anna's lips trailed all over her skin.

"Your body is my paradise, you are my paradise, Brittany." Anna murmured, softly digging her nails across Britt's waist. She returned her lips to Brittany's, kissing them tenderly.

Brittany pulled away from the kiss to catch her breath. "As much as I'd like to continue this, we should probably stop before it goes any further," she murmured softly.

"Is everything okay baby?" Anna asked, placing her hands on Brittany's hips as the hot water fell down on them in the steamy, hot shower.

"Yeah, yeah. Everything's fine. I just know that you're still not ready to go all the way, and I don't want you to feel uncomfortable if things keep escalating the way they have been," Brittany replied.

"So, I must have you pretty turned on, huh?" Anna said, smirking a little with a sense of pride. Her hands ran up and down Britt's body softly.

"Yeah, you could say that I guess," Brittany murmured back. She looked down, smiling to herself, then looked back up at Anna.

"You're so beautiful." Anna whispered, holding her girlfriend close to her as the water fell upon them. "Everything about you," Anna whispered. "Is perfect."

"There's plenty of things about me that are nowhere close to being perfect," Brittany said, leaning her forehead against Anna's. "Believe me, Anna. I'm nowhere near perfect. If I was even close I wouldn't have those PTSD panic attacks and I wouldn't-"

Anna cut her off with a gentle kiss on the lips. "To me, you're perfect." She whispered as their lips parted. "And that's all that matters."

Brittany smiled, closing the short distance between them and reconnecting their lips. "You have no idea how much it means to me to hear you say something like that," the blonde whispered.

"Well, I mean every word of it. I don't care about the fact that you have panic attacks or nightmares." Anna said, tucking some of Brittany's stray curls back. "I care about you; and every single thing about you, even your flaws…" Anna paused for a moment and cupped Brittany's cheeks, looking deeply into her eyes. "They're what make you, you. And I love you Brittany. I love all of you. Not just certain parts of you, all of you."

Brittany felt tears welling up in her eyes as Anna spoke, the blonde girl able to hear the truth and honesty in the brunette's voice. She had never felt more loved than she did with Anna; nobody could compare to how caring she was. "Anna, I-" She paused for a moment. "That's the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me."

"I mean every word of it," Anna murmured. She leaned their foreheads together stayed there a moment, just letting the water run on top of them. "You're the one."

"You're the one for me too, Anna. You're my person," Brittany whispered back, her arms around Anna's neck.

"And you're my person," Anna said. "Always." She said, smiling and kissing her girlfriend again.

"If it's alright with you, could we maybe get out of the shower and cuddle for a little bit?" Brittany asked.

"No, that would be completely unacceptable," Anna said in a teasing and sarcastic tone, running her hand along Brittany's arm. "I would love that, and you know I would." She said smiling and leaning in to kiss Britt's lips.

Brittany smiled into the kiss. "If you really think cuddling is that unacceptable, we don't have to cuddle," she replied, playing along with Anna.

"I want to cuddle with you babe," Anna stated. She smiled and then turned off the shower, handing Brittany a towel as they got out of the shower. "I couldn't ever say no to cuddles from you."

"Well that's a good thing, because we'd have a problem then," Brittany replied with a chuckle as she wrapped herself up in her towel.

Anna smiled and then changed into some pjs before climbing into the bed and waiting for Brittany. "You're beautiful." She said as she watched Brittany change. "The most beautiful thing I've ever seen."

"Really? I'm the most beautiful thing you've ever seen?" Brittany asked.

The young brunette stood up and walked over to Brittany, wrapping her arms around her from behind. "The most beautiful thing I've ever seen." Anna whispered, kissing the back of Brittany's shoulder and then up behind her ear.

Brittany smiled, noticing the genuine honesty in Anna's voice. "I love you for loving me," she whispered, turning her head towards Anna.

"There's nothing else I'd rather do than love you. You know, besides getting my brother back and stopping the Healers. But once all this is over, we'll be able to start a normal life together." She whispered, pulling Brittany over to the bed before covering them up with the blankets.

"Yeah, I hope so," Brittany said, cuddling up next to Anna. "It's going to be a while before all this dies down though."

"We will Brittany," Anna said smiling. "Like you said, you just have to believe." She tucked Brittany's hair back and smiled.

"Anna?" Brittany asked.

"Yeah?" Anna asked while softly tracing her arm.

"What's your biggest fear?" Brittany asked.

"Right now, it's not saving Josh or my parents." Anna stated, biting her lip and looking down. "But my deepest fear is losing you."

Brittany noticed Anna look away from her. "Hey, I'm not going anywhere, okay? You're not going to lose me." Brittany said to Anna.

"I know that I'm not. It's just the thought of it even being a small possibility is what scares me more than anything." Anna said, looking back up. "I'm going to do my best to protect you, because I love you. And the thought of losing you is what kills me the most."

"I promise that you're not going to lose me, Anna. I'm going to do whatever I can to make sure of that. And I know that you're going to protect me, and I know that you're going to keep me safe," Brittany whispered, looking into Anna's eyes.

Anna nodded and placed her hands on Brittany's, which was resting on Anna's neck. "I'm not going to let anyone hurt you." She whispered.

"I know," Brittany murmured back, her voice just barely loud enough for Anna to hear. She leaned in and brushed their lips together gently.

"And I'm going to protect you with all that I have." Anna whispered, only pulling back from the kiss when Brittany did.

The blonde closed her eyes, laying her head down on the pillows of the bed. "I think I'm going to fall asleep soon," she mumbled, a yawn following her last few words.

"You're adorable when you yawn," Anna murmured, kissing Brittany's nose before turning off the lamp and hugging the blonde close.

"Oh sure I am," Brittany muttered back sarcastically, though she couldn't keep herself from smiling. Anna then leaned in, deciding to give Britt a goodnight kiss. Her lips formed a smile as soon as they connected with Brittany's.

"Goodnight, my beautiful love." She whispered. Anna's words were the last thing Brittany heard before she fell asleep, smiling and sighing happily before her eyes slowly closed.

 **Will Anna, Britt, Skylar, Dale, Meleike and Ester be able to rescue Josh from the Healers? Let's hope so. Plus, Dale and Anna are now on good terms again. And we thought you might enjoy a sendrick shower scene ;). Stay tuned for the next chapter!**

 **Until next time,**

 **Elle and Gabi**


	13. Chapter 12: Underground Rebels

Chapter 12: Underground Rebels

The following morning, everyone woke up early so that they could get on the road and get to Josh as quick as possible. Everyone was a little on edge; Josh had taken on the role of the leader as the group, so not having him there was a little strange. Regardless, they had to remain focused on the task at hand.

Dale had woken up before Skylar and decided to let him sleep in, since the events of the last few days had really taken a toll on him. She climbed out of bed and started to pack up their stuff since they would be leaving the hotel as soon as possible. Skylar woke up around 8:15 in the morning, and looked over to see Dale wasn't next to him. The young man sat up in the hotel bed, smiling when he saw Dale already dressed and packing.

"Looks like someone is up early." He said with a smile, pulling a shirt over his head and walking over to Dale. He wrapped his arms around her waist from behind and kissed her next a few times before resting his chin on her shoulder.

Dale smiled, stopping her packing as Skylar kissed her. "Well, I didn't really get up early. I kinda just woke up, and I figured that I'd start packing early to save you some of the trouble and let you sleep in."

"That's sweet of you, but I would've gladly packed my own bag. You didn't have to do that. But thank you anyways." Skylar murmured, holding her close to him. He placed his hands on top of hers and rested them on Dale's stomach. "I'm glad Anna suggested we stop for the night, I like cuddling with you." Sky whispered with a tired smile on his face.

"I liked cuddling with you too," Dale said shyly, looking down at Skylar's hands on her stomach. She looked back up at Skylar and smiled. "Last night was one of the first nights in a long time that I've actually slept soundly."

"Yeah, it's amazing what a legitimate bed can do for your sleeping." Skylar said with a soft chuckle, smoothly running his thumb over the back of one of Dale's hands.

Dale laughed at Skylar's reply. "You do have a point there. I guess it's also been a long time since I slept in an actual bed," she said, smiling softly.

Skylar could notice Dale's hands were trembling. "Is everything okay? You're trembling." He asked turning her around to face him. "Are you nervous about finding Josh?"

"It's nothing, Skylar. I'm fine," Dale said, looking down towards the floor to avoid Skylar's gaze.

"Dale," he said, lifting her chin up with his hand so they were face to face again. "You can tell me, what is it? Maybe I can help."

Dale took a couple deep breaths to calm herself down. "I'm just scared that I might lose you again. You could be the one held hostage by the Healers right now. Who knows if something like that will happen again this time?"

"That won't happen again, Dale." Skylar whispered. "I've made it my job to be more careful, and I'm not going to let them take me away again. They won't get to me, and they won't hurt me." Skylar murmured, looking in Dale's green eyes as she gazed into his brown ones. "Do you know why they can't hurt me?"

"Why can't they hurt you?" Dale asked quietly, holding Skylar's gaze and gently squeezing his hand that she was holding.

"Because you make me stronger." Skylar whispered. "It's because of you that I train harder than I ever have. It's because of you that I'm more careful when we go on our missions. Because I don't want to be apart from you more than I have to." He said, tucking some of her hair back. "And I don't want to be apart from you because I love you." Skylar said, saying those three words for the first time.

Dale felt her heart stop and her face turn red as she comprehended what Skylar had just said. "Y-you love me?" She asked, unsure if she had heard him correctly or not. "Do you really mean that?"

"I haven't meant any three words more in my life, Dale." Skylar said, unafraid of his vulnerability. He loved Dale plain and simple, and he was going to be honest to her about it. "I love you Dale, more than I'll ever be able to explain."

Dale felt tears of joy welling up in her eyes. "I love you too, Skylar. I really love you," she replied, smiling at him. Skylar smiled and held her close, making sure to kiss her lips passionately and lovingly.

"I love you, Ragsdale Camp," He whispered, holding her close and kissing her again.

"I love you, Skylar Astin," Dale whispered back, her arms around Skylar's neck as she leaned in again.

Skylar kissed her softly, but it quickly turned passionate. "I love you so, so, so much." He murmured, softly pushing up against the dresser and picking her up onto it.

Dale giggled a little bit, smiling and blushing. Before things could escalate too much, she put a hand on Skylar's chest to stop him. "As much as I want to continue, I need to keep packing."

"Babe, you're almost done packing." Skylar groaned playfully, he then leaned his forehead to hers. "Just five minutes?" He murmured, moving his lips to her neck and kissing it softly.

Dale eventually gave in to Skylar's request. "Alright. Five more minutes, but then I do have to finish packing."

"Thank you," Skylar said smiling happily when Dale obliged to his request. He then leaned in and kissed her lips gently, running his hand up and down her side while the other dragged softly along her thigh. "You're wonderful."

"You're pretty wonderful yourself," Dale murmured back, closing her eyes and sighing with content as Skylar's hand ran up and down her thigh. Skylar stepped in between Dale's legs, wrapping them around his waist as they continued to make out. He then placed the hand on Dale's waist on one side of her neck while the other remained softly caressing her thigh. His lips moved to her neck, where he left hauntingly sweet kisses along Dale's skin.

"Skylar," Dale mumbled softly, feeling a moan rising up in her throat as Skylar continued his ministrations. "This feels really nice, baby."

"Oh yeah?" He whispered, nibbling on her skin, leaving love bites before sucking to soothe the tingle of the bites.

"What do you think? Isn't it pretty obvious by the way I'm reacting?" Dale said with a little giggle. Skylar chuckled and then returned to Dale's lips, tugging softly at her lower lip while staring into her eyes hungrily.

"You're quite the smart talker my love," he murmured as their lips reconnected passionately.

Dale shrugged her shoulders and smiled. "I guess it's just a part of my personality. You don't have a problem with that, right?" She asked.

"Not at all, babe," Skylar said with a smile, tucking her hair out of her face and gazing into her eyes. He just smiled to himself, unable to peel his eyes away from her beautiful face.

After a few moments, Dale noticed Skylar staring at her, almost as if he was entranced. "Hey, earth to Skylar! What are you staring at?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Skylar said smiling. "You. Because you're the most beautiful girl in the world." He whispered, smiling at his smooth words before leaning and kissing her again.

Dale's face turned bright red and the blonde blushed. Nobody had ever complimented her as much as Skylar did, so she still got a little embarrassed every time he said something sweet and romantic to her.

Their moment was ended when a knock happened on their door. "Are you guys up?" Anna's voice called. "I got us some kick ass breakfast burritos."

"Yeah, we're up," Dale called back, hopping down from the dresser and walking towards the door. She opened it, smiling when Anna held out some breakfast burritos for her and Skylar. "These do look like some good burritos." Brittany, Ester and Meleike all joined Dale and Skylar in their room so they could plan for their day.

"I think the farthest we should travel is to North Dakota." Anna suggested. "Patrols will start getting heavier as we get farther east. If we don't find anything we stop in North Dakota for night, it's about a ten hour drive from here."

"Do we have enough gas to get from here to North Dakota? We don't want to end up having to walk, especially in this weather," Dale said to Anna.

"There's a running gas station just down the road, I saw it when I went to get breakfast for everyone. We can fill up the car there and then be on the road." Anna stated, handing a breakfast burrito to everyone in the room. Everyone nodded in agreement.

"We should get on the road as soon as possible so we can make the most of the daylight that we have, so let's try and finish these burritos quickly and then we can move along," Ester said.

Soon, the group was on the road. Anna was driving, with Brittany helping her navigate. They were driving through the beautiful but long state of Montana. Brittany smiled at the great big mountains, loving how tall they were and the snow that capped the top of them. "Montana is pretty beautiful, that's for sure. I can't believe I've never been here before."

Since she was driving, Anna kept her eyes on the road most of the time, but she did sneak an occasional glance at the mountains to see what Brittany was talking about. "Yeah, these mountains are really pretty," she said to Brittany.

"I wonder where I'm going to live after all of this is over," Brittany said. "I certainly don't want to go anywhere near Florida. But that thought has crossed my mind many times. I want to live somewhere quiet and peaceful, somewhere beautiful. Where I can run a bakery and come home to my family every night." She said, smiling at the fantasy.

"Your family?" Anna asked, snapping Brittany out of her daydreaming. "You want a family?" Anna asked again.

"Well, I mean...I always dreamt of having a family of my own growing up." Brittany said. "Even throughout the war, I wanted what my parents had. A nice house, a few kids. It's just a fantasy though."

"So you don't want to have a family?" Anna asked. "I mean, I'm just asking. I'm not against it or anything," she clarified.

"A fantasy is usually something you dream of having. So, yeah, if times were peaceful and I could have one, I'd have a family." Brittany stated, smiling to herself.

Anna nodded her head, looking briefly over at Brittany before looking back to the road. There was a short silence between them as Anna continued to drive.

Britt took Anna's hand that was resting on the center console and linked their fingers, bringing it up to her lips to kiss it. It was a simple gesture to say that "if that's not something you want, I'm cool with that," without actually having to say it.

Anna recognized the meaning behind Brittany's gesture, and she smiled towards the blonde, leaning in and kissing her cheek gently. "I love you," she whispered in the blonde's ear.

"I love you too," the blonde whispered back. Even though she was okay with the idea of Anna not wanting a family, Britt still felt her heart hurt a tiny bit. Having a family had been something she wanted for a long time. And since she had lost her entire family, she wanted to build a new one.

The next few hours of the car ride were silent, the only talking between Anna and Brittany as they navigated through the Montana mountains. Anna took a break from driving and switched with Ester, taking her place in the back of the car.

About an hour before their destination, Sky noticed a small amount of light posts. He noticed it was shining over a large, and then started tapping Ester's shoulder while everyone took a nap. "Head that way," he said. "That may be a Healer base."

"Alright," Ester said, turning off the road and driving through the woods towards the lights. She slowed the car to a stop when they came upon a tall fence. "What do we do now?"

"I don't know, wake the others up and tell them to be quiet because we have no clue what this place is." Skylar said, getting a flashlight out.

Ester nodded and then reached her arm to the backseat, gently tapping Anna until she woke up. "Hey, we think we've found something."

Anna rubbed her eyes and woke up. "What is it?" She asked, yawning shortly after she finished her sentence.

"Skylar noticed some lights ahead. We think that it might be a base of some sort. Wake up the others and then we can go see what it is," Ester replied.

Once everyone had woken up, they hopped out of the car to check out the scene. Brittany and Anna stuck close to each other, and so did the other two couples as they each searched closer to the stream of lights. While it was dark out, the lights coming from the building up ahead were so bright that they didn't need flashlights to help them see better as they walked towards the fence.

They reached the fence, which was about eight feet tall, maybe more. "There's either a way around it, or we have to climb over," Dale said.

"This fence isn't that tall, we can climb it if we work together." Brittany added, biting her lip as she looked the stone wall in front of them.

"We shouldn't make the decision so quickly. We don't know what's on the other side of that wall. The last thing that we need is another one of us getting taken by the Healers," Anna said.

"What do you suggest then?" Skylar whispered. "We don't have many other choices and if we try to blow a hole in the wall with our explosives it'll make too much noise."

"Let's just see how far this wall goes. That should give us a good idea of how big the base is. And if there is a base behind the wall, then there's at least one entrance gate, if not more," Anna pointed out. Everyone nodded their head and spread out, walking along the wall, looking for an entrance.

Brittany was with Anna and she could tell the brunette was a little tense. "We're going to find Josh, babe." She said, trying reassure her girlfriend.

"We don't that for sure," Anna muttered back, "We don't even know if this is a Healer base or not. For all we know, this could just be another dead end and we could be completely wasting our time here."

Brittany stopped Anna and turned her so they were facing each other. "So what if this isn't a healers base? Wouldn't you rather have checked it find out that it's not a base rather than just driving past it and it's the place they're possibly holding your brother captive. Either way, it won't be a waste of time." Brittany said, keeping her girlfriend in check. "I'd rather check just to be sure rather than just saying 'screw it, this is a waste of time. Besides, if you don't believe you're going to find him, then we won't. So keep the faith okay? We're going to find Josh."

Anna looked away, remaining silent as they continued to walk along the fence. "I can't help feeling hopeless," she said quietly, still looking at the ground.

Brittany couldn't help but feel helpless. Her heart broke when she could tell Anna didn't believe her when she had seemed so hopeful the night before. Brittany continued to walk with her.

"There's no opening in this wall, how the fuck are we supposed to get in?" Anna said hopelessly.

Britt then noticed a small little crack in the wall, it was shaped like a door. "Hey, shine your flashlight over here, Anna. I may have found an entrances." She said running her fingers along the line in the wall.

Anna walked over to where Brittany was standing and turned on her flashlight, shining it on the wall. Sure enough, there was a door. "We would have missed that if we weren't looking as closely as we are," Anna said.

Brittany searched for a handle. "There's probably some sort of button or handle close to the side in order to open the door." She said as she felt around. She then felt a small dent in the wall and pressed it. The door creaked back and Brittany pushed it back. She then turned to Anna. "Hey, cover me and follow me."

"Shouldn't we tell the others before we go off on our own?" Anna asked.

Brittany shook her head. "Let's see where this leads before we get everyone over here. We don't want to lose any trail they might've left behind."

Anna nodded, taking out her pistol and giving Brittany her flashlight. "Alright, then let's go and see what's on the other side of this door."

Then the two girls crept through the dark hallway, keeping on their guard for anything that could hurt them. They came up to some stairs that led down underground. Britt turned to Anna. "You think we should go down there?"

Anna hesitated, looking from the stairs to Brittany. "I say we go down and see where it leads, then turn around and get the others so that we can all go down together," she replied, "We don't want to go too far and end up getting lost."

The both of them nodded in agreement with each other and then headed down the stairs. "There's a light up ahead, be careful." Britt warned as she and Anna made there way to the bottom of the stairs.

Anna held her pistol up in front of her as they approached the light, which was hanging from the ceiling. They got closer, and they came face-to-face to a wall. Anna frowned, then ran her fingers along the wall until she found a dent in the wall. "Whoever owns this place sure likes having their hidden doors," she said to herself.

"Maybe it's so those thickheaded Healers can't find it." Britt said with a chuckle before she took out a knife. She ran it along the wall softly till she found the complete outline of the door. She then pushed it open and held up her knife.

"This definitely isn't a complex owned by the Healers. So if this place doesn't belong to the Healers, then who actually owns it?" Anna asked as they walked through the second door.

"I don't know if this still actually belongs to anybody. All the walls are covered in cobwebs and rust. Someone probably just turned the light on because they were seeking shelter from the Healers." Brittany said before they walked in.

They were met by a few guns being held up at their faces. "Who are you?" A random voice called out.

Anna looked around, seeing that the only way for them to escape would be to turn around and run. That probably wouldn't work, however, considering that three guns were held up at her, and three other guns were held up at Brittany. "We're not Healers, I swear," Anna said, holding her hands up in the air.

"Then how did you find our hideout?" One of them called out. "Speak!"

"We were just traveling east to track down her older brother!" Brittany said, trying to stay calm as she carefully stared at the three guns pointed at her face. "He was taken captive by the Healers!"

"And why the hell should we believe you two? For all we know, you could be lying to our faces right now, and there could be more of you on the way," another person said in a harsh voice.

"Listen!" Anna called out. "We found this bases and thought it could be where the Healers took my brother Josh Kendrick! I promise that we mean you no harm!"

"Anna?" A female voice called out from behind the men holding the guns to their faces.

Anna furrowed her eyebrows, trying to recall where she had heard that voice. It sounded very familiar to the brunette, but she couldn't quite figure out who the person speaking was. "Yeah, I'm Anna. Who said that?" She called out.

That's when a woman, who looked to be in her early fifties stepped out into the open. She had dark brown hair and deep blue eyes. Brittany could've sworn she looked just like Anna if she were thirty years older. "Anna it's me, your Aunt Terry."

Anna let out a quiet gasp. "A-aunt Terry?" She stuttered, her eyes widening. She had thought her aunt had been killed by the Healers nearly twenty years ago. "You're alive? How?"

"I escaped the Healers with your Uncle. We tried to get your parents out but Heinrick has had them in maximum security for years." She said, walking up to her young niece. She tucked Anna's hair back. "You've grown up to be so beautiful sweetheart. I'm so happy that you're alive."

Anna smiled, feeling a few tears of joy fall down her face. "I'm happy that you're alive too," she said, opening her arms and embracing her aunt tightly. "How's Uncle Greg?"

Terry sniffled a little bit as she pulled away from the hug. "He's currently on watch. Do you have anyone else with you?"

"Yeah, we have four other people with us. We should probably go get them now. They might be looking for us," Anna replied.

"We will go get them now." Terry said smiling before walking out into the night with Anna and Brittany.

Anna and her aunt walked side by side. "It's been so long since I've seen you. I was sure that the Healers caught you," Anna said.

"We did, and we were their captives for about two years." Terry said. "When we escaped, we tried to get you parents out as well. Heinrick has them under maximum security though. And that's where he's kept them for the last seventeen years."

"I don't understand. What makes Anna's parents so deadly to them?" Brittany asked.

"My mom was an FBI Agent before the war. If anyone knew how to take down the Healers quickly and for good, it's her." Anna said.

"Exactly. And she probably told everything to Anna and Josh's father, which is why they've kept him as well." Terry stated once they made it out into the cold dark night.

"I'll radio in and tell everyone where we are," Anna said, taking the walkie talkie out of her pocket. "Come in Sky, come in Ester. It's a rebel base. Head north and you'll find us."

"Copy that." Skylar's voice said. "How do you know it's a rebel base?"

"You'll find out when you get over here." Brittany stated.

"Alright. We're on our way and will get there as soon as we can," Skylar replied before turning off his radio.

"And now we wait," Anna said, turning off the walkie talkie and putting it back in her pocket as they waited for the other members of the group to join them.

Britt walked up beside Anna and held her hand, this made Terry smile a little as she looked at the two girls. They waited for about fifteen minutes before they saw Skylar, Dale, Meleike and Ester walking their way.

Anna smiled and called them through the walkie-talkie. "We can see you, keep heading the way you're going."

Eventually, the four got close enough so that they could see Anna and Brittany. "Hey guys," Dale said with a smile, "So where is this rebel base that you've found?"

"I'll show your group down to the shelter." Terry said.

"Who is this?" Dale asked.

"Everyone, this is my Aunt Terry. Aunt Terry, that's Skylar, Dale, Ester, and Meleike. They're all in our little rebel group, and we'd all like to see some more helpful and friendly faces!" Anna said with a smile on her face.

Terry smiled at her niece's enthusiasm. "Well, I'm sure that the others will warm up to you all very quickly. You seem like very nice people," she said. She then turned and started walking towards the door to the shelter. "Follow me now, and I'll show you where the shelter is."

"Anna," Skylar said as they walked towards the rebel base. "I thought you said your Aunt Terry and Uncle Greg had been killed by the Healers before the war really even started."

"I thought that they were killed, but I was wrong," Anna said to Skylar. "I only saw them get taken by the Healers, so I kinda assumed that they had been killed."

"Well, I'm glad we have some more people on our side." Skylar said as they trudged through the snow towards the entrance. "It's nice to know that we're not alone."

Terry lead them to the door of the base. "Alright, just keep following my lead," she said, opening the door and walking through.

Once they were inside, Anna's group got acquainted with her Aunt Terry's inner circle. However, there were about twenty or thirty of them to get acquainted with. So once that was done they were shown to their new sleeping quarters. Brittany snuck into Anna's room later that night crawled into bed with her.

"Hey," Britt whispered. "You awake?" She said softly.

Anna turned over, squinting as she tried to make out Brittany's face in the dark. "Yeah, I'm awake," she murmured, yawning a little bit. "Why are you still up?"

"You know it's actually pretty funny." Brittany said with a chuckle before she answered Anna's question. "I've gotten so used to cuddling you at night that I don't think I can fall asleep if I'm not in a bed with you, cuddling." She said sweetly.

Anna smiled softly and then closed her eyes before yawning again. "I usually can't fall asleep without you, but I was so tired after today that I just passed out as soon as I got in here," she replied.

"Mmmm, maybe the fact that you found your long lost aunt and uncle put your mind at ease a little." Brittany said with a smile, holding Anna close to her in her arms.

"Maybe," Anna whispered, her breathing getting slower and slower as she felt herself drifting off again.

"One last thing," Brittany whispered to Anna.

"Yeah?" Anna mumbled tiredly.

Brittany leaned in and kissed Anna on the lips. "Goodnight, baby," she whispered.

Anna smiled when she felt their lips meet, only pulling away when she needed to catch her breath. "Goodnight," she murmured, sighing happily.

The next morning, Brittany and Anna woke up a little bit early. It was mostly because they wanted to make out a little before they were told to get out of bed. Brittany was currently straddling Anna's lap and had her shirt off.

Anna's hands ran along Brittany's bare skin while their lips moved together in sync, not breaking the contact. "This is nice," the brunette murmured softly, her lips still on Brittany's.

"Mhmm, it's really nice." Brittany said, only breaking the kiss to catch her breath before reconnecting their lips. She sat there, straddling Anna in her pj shorts and her bright red sports bra that she slept in. "You're really good with your hands."

"I think that you might've mentioned that once or twice," Anna replied, moving her lips to Brittany's neck.

"Oh my god," Brittany hummed, approving Anna's lips caressing her neck in perfectly gentle and rough kisses. "Don't stop."

Anna continued to kiss Brittany's neck for a few moments before pulling away. "How much more time do you think we have before we have to actually get up?" She asked.

"It's only 6:00 in the morning." Brittany said, checking the clock. "Why do you ask?" She said tucking some of the hair out of her face, and pulling it back into a messy ponytail.

"I was just wondering," Anna said, smiling up at Brittany. "We still have a good hour or so. My aunt will probably want us to be up early so we can get ready for the day ahead of us."

"Well, I must say that an hour is plenty of time to continue this." Britt whispered before leaning in and kissing Anna on the lips passionately but gently.

"I think I'll start getting up earlier if it means I get to do this with you," Anna murmured back with a smile. Brittany smiled and giggled a little before kissing along Anna's jaw line and back to her lips.

"Can I ask you something?" Brittany asked.

"Anything," Anna said pulling back from the kiss for a moment.

"Do you think we're ever going to have the perfect time for us to take a step further in our relationship?" Brittany asked, biting her lip in the dark. "Like I know we're waiting till you're ready and it's the right time. But do you think there will ever be a right time?"

Anna sighed, then shrugged. "I don't know, Britt. There's just so much happening all at once right now. And believe me when I say that I want our relationship to go further. I just don't know, like you said, when the right time for that moment is or will be."

"I hope it's soon. Not because I want to push things. Because I want you to feel that connection with me. That bond it would bring to us." Brittany said, moving Anna's brown hair away from her face. "Sex, it means something to me. I wouldn't just do it with anyone who comes around. I love you, and I want you and I to have the bond."

"I want us to have that bond too, Britt. I really do. And I want us to take our relationship to the next level. Like I said, there's just so much happening right now, but I don't want you to think our relationship isn't a priority. I love you more than anything," Anna said, looking into Britt's eyes.

"You mean that?" Brittany asked in a quiet voice, looking down at Anna's hands on her bare waistline.

"Of course I mean that. I wouldn't have said it if I didn't mean it," Anna replied, smiling softly.

Brittany nodded, smiling for a moment before Anna's lips came up to meet hers in a gentle kiss. The blonde girl cupped Anna's cheeks and kissed the girl back.

Anna smiled, leaning into the kiss. "I'm going to assume that this means you believe me?" The brunette asked with a chuckle.

"I wouldn't be kissing you back if I didn't believe in you." Brittany murmured before kissing Anna again. "Now shut up and kiss me." She whispered, scooting her body further up Anna's lap.

Anna chuckled again. "Oh, so now you're going to be bossing me around? I see how it is," she replied, smirking a little.

"I think that you'd rather kiss me than question me." Brittany whispered with a smirk as big as Anna's.

Anna pretended to gasp. "I can't believe you're giving me attitude right now, Snow. You know, I can just stop kissing you if I want to," she said.

"Or I can stop kissing you and leave you high and dry while I head back to my own room." Brittany said smiling deviously at her girlfriend. "And I don't think you want that."

"I don't think you'd want that either, Britt. But the choice is yours. Feel free to do whatever you want," Anna said.

Brittany then did something that surprised Anna, and she lifted her sports bra over her head and threw it to the side where her shirt was laying. She then started kissing Anna's neck, softly but with lust.

Anna was surprised, to say the least, by Brittany's sudden advances. "What are you doing, Britt?" The brunette asked.

"Are you complaining?" Brittany muttered, continuing to kiss Anna's neck.

"Well, it's just-" Anna started.

"Just what?" Brittany said, pulling back and looking at Anna.

Anna paused for a moment. "I-it's nothing. Nevermind. Just forget about it," she murmured quietly, looking away from Brittany.

"Don't bullshit me Anna," Britt said, self-consciously covering herself up. "What's going on?"

"Nothing's going on, Britt. I told you to just forget about what I said," Anna replied, a bit taken aback by the tone of Brittany's voice.

"Well I'm not going to. I'm not the type of person who just forgets things." Brittany said. When Anna didn't respond, Britt rolled her eyes and got up before putting her sports bra on. "Just get some sleep, since you obviously don't seem interested in a little foreplay." Brittany said, putting her yoga pants on and getting her shoes back on.

The blonde then left the room, leaving Anna alone and dumbfounded. The brunette sighed, running her fingers through her hair before pulling her blanket over her body and trying to get some sleep, even though she knew she wasn't going to after her argument with Brittany.

 **Right? I'm confused too. What made Anna turn away from Britt? And why did Britt get so upset. Well at least they found Anna and Josh's aunt and uncle!**

 **Until Next time,**

 **Gabi and Elle.**


	14. Chapter 13: Fight Hard

Chapter 13: Fight Hard

Brittany made her way to what looked the training room at the rebel base. It was empty, since everyone was still asleep. She taped up her knuckles and warmed up before she started punching the bag, to let out her frustration, both with herself and with Anna. The girl knew Anna wasn't quite ready yet, but Brittany didn't understand why the girl pushed her away. She started punching the punching bag angrily, trying to get her emotions out through hitting the bag as hard as she could.

"Why do you push me away?" She said to herself, hitting the bag. "I know you're keeping secrets from me!" She hit the bag harder and harder with each punch. "I was just trying to have a little fun…But you push me away!" She said, punching the bag so hard sand started ripping out of the seams. The young girl then moved to practicing her throwing knife skills, throwing them at dummies as she pictured Heinrick in front of her.

While she didn't realize it, Brittany's conversation with herself was loud enough to wake up Dale, who had started to walk towards where the sounds she was hearing were coming from. She opened the door to the training room, immediately noticing the punching bag with sand pouring out of it. She looked over and saw someone throwing knives, figuring that the only person it could be was Brittany.

"You know, one thing that isn't great about having a room next to the training room is you can smell the sweat and grime from it." Dale said, speaking up as she walked over to Brittany, who briefly glanced her way. "And the thin walls."

"What are you doing up so early?" Brittany said, throwing another knife, hitting the dummy right in the heart. "Shouldn't you be cuddling Skylar?"

"Shouldn't you be cuddling Anna?" Dale asked. "You two have been pretty inseparable lately. I'm surprised that she's not here with you right now," the older blonde added.

"Yeah well, I think she can bear to be apart from me for awhile longer." Brittany stated in an irritated tone. She threw another knife, this time hitting the dummy where the eye would be.

Dale noticed the tone in Brittany's voice, and then understood. "Ah, I get it. You and Anna had an argument." Brittany didn't respond, which confirmed Dale's thought. "Why did you guys fight? Is there anything I can do to help?"

"Can you read Anna's brain?" Brittany asked.

"Unfortunately no," Dale answered.

"Then probably not." Brittany said, going to collect her throwing knives before setting them down on the table and sighing deeply. "Well, we were making out this morning, and we were joking around about how leaving each other high and dry. So I decided to be a little playful and went topless, which is something I've done before in our makeout sessions. And she just pulled away and then wouldn't tell me what I fucking did."

Dale thought about what Brittany had said for a few minutes. "You know, maybe you didn't do anything at all," she said, "Maybe Anna just freaked out for some reason. Like, she all of a sudden got really nervous or something. She's a paranoid person. She probably just got in her own head."

"But we've gone that far before. I mean, we haven't had sex or anything. But we've seen each other naked." Brittany said. "Why the hell would something like that freak her out enough to shut me out?"

Dale shrugged. "That's something that you'll have to ask her. I doubt that she wanted to upset you by it or anything. I've only known Anna as long as you have, but I can tell that she's not the greatest at handling her emotions."

"Yeah, no kidding." Brittany said, biting her lip. "How the hell am I going to get an answer from her? She wouldn't even look me in the eye."

"My advice would be to just talk to her about it, and make sure that you tell her that you're not upset. Even if you are, don't show it. Anna's not going to tell you anything if she's afraid you're going to lash out at her," Dale replied.

Brittany took a deep breath and then looked towards the door, and then back at Dale. "Yeah, okay." She said before heading over to a climbing wall. "Thanks for the advice."

"I'm happy to help whenever you need me to," Dale said, watching Brittany begin to climb on the climbing wall. "Just don't prolong this for any longer than it needs to be. I'd go talk to her now and get it over with so that you can move forward."

"Yeah, well, she's sleeping now. I'll talk to her at breakfast." Brittany said as she looked for her next move on the climbing wall.

"Alright," Dale said, standing up and walking over towards the door. "I'm going to go back to sleep now, so have fun on that climbing wall."

About an hour later, Brittany went to the showers. She washed the sweat and grime off of her body. There were a few bruises and cuts on her knuckles from the punching bag, though Brittany showed little pain because of them.

By the time that Brittany finished showering, almost everyone had started to wake up and head to the cafeteria in the base for breakfast, Anna among those who had gone to get some food. The brunette got a plate of sausage and eggs, then sat at a table while she waited for Ester and Meleike to get their food.

Brittany walked into the cafeteria, seeing Ester and Meleike standing in the food line. She walked over to them and patted on Ester's shoulder. "Hey guys," she said.

"Good morning Brittany," Ester said with a smile.

"Where's Anna, have you two seen her?" Brittany asked.

"Yeah, she's sitting at that table over there. She seems to be in some kind of mood," Meleike told Brittany as he pointed in the direction of where Anna was sitting.

"She barely even said good morning to us." Ester said.

"Yeah, well that's probably my fault." Brittany said before she, Ester and Meleike all got their food and walked over towards Anna.

They walked over to the table Anna was at, while Meleike and Ester sat down, Brittany set her food down but didn't sit. "Anna, can I talk to you?"

The brunette looked up and set down her knife and fork, then got up from the table and walked over to Brittany. "Alright, we can talk, but not here," she said softly.

Brittany nodded and then walked towards the hallway once Anna got up and followed her. Brittany walked them over to her own room, Anna's. Once they were there she turned to Anna. Even though she was upset from earlier, Brittany put on a good act to show otherwise. "Look, I just want you to know that I'm not upset okay? With what happened earlier, I'm not upset. You just surprised me when you turned from me."

"You kinda surprised me when you came onto me like that. I guess I wasn't really expecting it, which is why I reacted the way I did," Anna said, looking up at Brittany.

"Came onto to you like what Anna? That's not something we haven't done before." Brittany said, a bit confused. "I get that it may not have been what you were expecting, but we've done that before."

"I know. I know that we've gone that for. That's why I told you to just forget about it, because I realized how stupid I was for reacting like that," Anna said, looking down.

"Fuck, Anna." Brittany said, leaning against the wall. "I thought I had made you uncomfortable." She said. "Why is it so hard for you to talk to me, and to tell me how you're feeling?"

"I don't know. I wish I knew why, but I don't," Anna said, still looking down. "Sometimes I want to tell you things, but my mouth just won't say the words that I want to."

"Look Anna, I get that you sometimes have trouble saying how you feel. But at some point you have grow a pair and say what you want to say. Because you may not get the chance to say it again." Brittany stated, opening her eyes and looking over at Anna. "You can't be afraid to say what you want to say or to show how you feel."

"Why are you telling me what I can and cannot be afraid of?" Anna asked after a moment of silence. "Why do you get to decide that for me, Brittany?" She said, feeling anger in her voice.

"I'm not saying that, that's not what I meant at all." Brittany said, fighting back. "All I'm saying is if you leave things unsaid, you'll regret it. For example, if you aren't honest with me, you may lose my trust, and that may lead to you losing me. And I'd sure hope you don't want to lose me." Brittany said, standing up from her lean against the wall before walking towards Anna. "Do you want to lose me?" She then turned around and went back to the cafeteria.

Anna didn't respond, instead watching Brittany as she walked away. The brunette sighed to herself, not knowing what to do. She didn't want to have to go back to the cafeteria, and she needed some fresh air so she decided to go for a walk outside the base. Anna went to her room and grabbed her jacket before she started to look for the door that led above ground.

When Brittany got back, Dale and Skylar had joined Ester and Meleike at the table. "Well, your idea of talking to her completely backfired." She said coldly to Dale as she sat down. "She started accusing me of being in charge of what feels and fears. Even though I only said that not saying what you feel won't get you far."

"Just give her some time to cool off. She'll come around eventually," Dale said. She then noticed that Anna hadn't come back. "Was Anna going to come finish her breakfast or what?" She asked.

"Like you said, she probably is going to cool off." Brittany said. "The last person she wants to see is me anyways so I doubt that she'd come back here."

"She barely ate any of her food, though. She must be starving. Should I bring her plate to her room?" Ester asked Brittany.

"Do whatever you want okay? I don't know what to do to get through to her." Brittany said, looking at her plate with a blank stare as she picked at her food.

Ester nodded, then got up from the table and grabbed Anna's plate of food before going towards the living quarters to give Anna her food. Meleike went with her, leaving Brittany with Dale and Skylar.

"What am I supposed to do?" Brittany said, grumbling and putting her head in her hands. "My girlfriend has no trouble saying that she loves me, why can't she just tell me the truth about other things?"

Dale and Skylar looked at each other, unsure what to say that would help console Brittany. "Look, Britt, I don't know why Anna's acting like this. Like Dale said, she'll come to her senses sooner or later," Sky said.

"And when will that be Skylar? In an hour? In a day, in a week? A few years?" Brittany said, feeling sick to her stomach. She took one more look at her food and then pushed it away. "I'm not hungry." She said before getting up and leaving the cafeteria.

Ester and Meleike were returning as Brittany was leaving. "Hey Brittany, do you know where Anna went? Because she's not in her room, and I've asked around and nobody else has seen her for a while," Ester said.

"I don't want to talk about Anna right now okay? She probably just went for a walk." Brittany said, getting choked up and brushing past them, heading back to her room.

"You and I need to go find Anna." Meleike told Skylar once they got back to the table. "If she's half as upset as Brittany right now, she's going to need a friend."

"She's not in her room?" Skylar asked, a hint of concern in his voice.

Meleike shook his head. "No, we just went and checked and she wasn't there. Nobody's seen her since she went to go talk with Brittany."

"Well, we need to go and find her." Skylar said. He then turned to Dale and Ester. "If you see Britt soon, try and be there for her." Dale and Ester nodded and then he got his jacket on. "Come on dude, let's go look outside for her."

"She can't have gone that far. It's freezing out there," Meleike said as he and Skylar left the cafeteria to go look for Anna.

"You never know, Anna's pretty quick for a small human being." Skylar said as they looked around the base. After awhile, it became apparent that Anna wasn't in the base, so they decided to go outside to look for her.

As soon as they stepped foot outside the base, they were immediately hit with cold. "Holy shit," Meleike said, his teeth chattering.

"Yeah," Sky said before throwing his hood over his head, to keep warm. Meleike did the same and they walked around for about twenty minutes. They were just about to give up when they saw Anna sitting against a tree trunk in the woods.

"Hey! How long have you been out here? It's freezing!" Meleike called out to Anna.

The brunette looked up and shrugged her shoulders. "I just needed to have some time to myself. Plus I'm from Maine, I don't mind the cold that much."

"What's going on man?" Skylar said, sitting down next to Anna. "Why are you and Brittany arguing?"

"She's mad at me because I'm not the kind of person who opens up easily. And when I actually do, she gets mad at me," Anna said, looking down.

"Well I wouldn't say she gets mad because you open up," Skylar said, trying to not escalate the situation. "What did she say exactly?" He asked.

"She told me to grow up and start saying the things I want to say, as if me not opening up is childish," Anna replied.

"I that was kind of a harsh thing for her to say." Skylar said, looking down at the ground.

"But she's not wrong." Meleike stated, making the other two look at him. He held his hands up in defense. "I'm just speaking from experience, Ester and I went through the same argument when we first got together. She kept on complaining that I never told her when something was wrong, even though a lot of the times it was. For Pete's sake we were in a concentration camp." He said, walking over and sitting next to the other two.

"I get that I need to be honest, but I don't understand why she insists that I tell her everything. We all have our secrets," Anna replied.

"That may be, but she's your girlfriend and you love her." Meleike stated. "Now, that isn't to say to have to tell her everything right now, you haven't been together for very long. But over time you're going to have to keep less secrets from her, even if it hurts to tell her."

"Let's say in thirty years you guys are together and we've taken over Heinrick and peace has been restored." Meleike said trying to get that picture in Anna and Skylar's mind. "What if you and Brittany decide to build a home to live in and she suggests something you don't like like a marble counter top or a ugly carpet flooring for the living room. If you keep your feelings or your opinions bottled up, one day it could lead to a nasty argument that could've been avoided if you just told her the truth about what you were feeling in the first place."

"We might not even be together in thirty years anyways. She basically said she'd break up with me if I wasn't completely honest with her. I don't want to lose her, but I feel like she's trying to control me, I guess. This is all so stupid," Anna muttered.

"Anna, the last thing Brittany wants to do is control you." Skylar said, finally interjecting an opinion. "Dale and I haven't been together for very long but I've had a relationship before this. Girls like Brittany, Dale and Ester just want vulnerable honesty, but it's not because they want to control you." Skylar said, looking over at his friend. "It's because they care for you and want to be there for you in any way they can. I thought the last girl I was with was trying to control me, but it turned out she just wanted to get to know me so we could have a stronger bond together."

Anna sighed, closing her eyes for a moment and running her fingers through her hair. "We should probably go back now, it's getting colder with every second," the brunette said, standing up and brushing some snow off of herself. "Thanks for coming to talk to me. I appreciate it."

"Just do yourself a favor Anna." Meleike said, standing up and putting his hood back on. "Tell Brittany what you're feeling, when you're feeling it. Honestly, being honest with her is the best thing you can do, don't take it for granted."

"I'll talk to her tomorrow, maybe. I highly doubt she wants to see me for the rest of the day," Anna said somberly.

"Well do it soon, my guess is you don't want her to slip away." Skylar said before catching up to Meleike.

Anna let Skylar's last words sink in for a moment. "Yeah," she said to herself. "I can't let her slip away." The brunette followed closely behind Skylar, immersed in her own thoughts as they walked back towards the base.

When they got back, Anna went to her room and took a warm shower and changed into some dry clothes.

Brittany was back in the training room, doing core exercises. She had decided to up her workouts to three-a-day workouts. She had to be ready to rescue Josh and to stop Heinrick Francis and his Healers.

The blonde girl was currently doing crunches while hanging upside down on a bar. Her body was sweating as she tried to let more of her frustrations out. "Fight hard, Britt." She told herself. "You're going to be fighting your whole life. Push, fight hard." She said before continuing to do the crunches.

After changing, Anna went to go talk to her aunt Terry about what the plan was for the day. On her way to her aunt's room, she passed the training room, where she saw Brittany working out. The brunette stopped to watch for a few minutes before turning away and continuing to walk down the hallway.

Terry was with Anna's Uncle Greg in a room full of screens, showing camera's along the halls of the main base. "What's all this?" Anna asked as she walked in.

"Anna!" Greg said with a happy smile. "So glad you join us, come on over."

Anna smiled and walked over to her uncle, giving him a hug. She then hugged her aunt as well before looking at all the different screens. "So is this the security system?"

"Sort of, yes." Terry said with a smile. "That's how we saw you and your girlfriend coming. We also have cameras on the outside of the base in case some Healers try sneaking up on the base."

Anna nodded, looking at all the different cameras. "Is there anything in particular that you want me to do right now? I'm kinda bored, so if you need me for anything, I'm here."

"Not anything in particular." Greg said scratching his head for a moment. "Why don't you go and do some strength training? We all need to stay strong and healthy."

Anna bit her lip, knowing that if she went to the training room then she'd encounter Brittany, who definitely didn't want to see her right then. "I think I'll just walk around for a bit and get a feel of where everything is," she said.

"Alright, that sounds good." Terry said before waving at Anna as she left the room.

Anna searched around the base, checking out the different hallways. She stopped near the south end of the base, going to the deck to look at the view. There was another person, a girl around Dale's age standing there as well. "Mind if I join you?" Anna asked.

The girl turned when she heard a voice speaking to her, and she smiled. "No, not at all," she replied, waving for Anna to join her.

Anna walked onto the deck and stood beside her, looking out at the view. "I'm Anna," she said, holding her hand out for the girl to shake.

The girl took her hand and shook it friendly. "Samantha." the girl said smiling. "But most people here call me Sam." She said before looking out at the view. "So what brings you out here? Needed some fresh air?"

Anna nodded. "Yeah, you could say that. I just needed to clear my head a little, if you get what I mean," she said to Sam.

"No I hear you, I come out here all the time. It's peaceful. In fact, it's the only peaceful part of this base. Everything else is filled with noise and extra unwanted chatter." Sam said with a chuckle, making Anna laugh a little as well. The girl had light brown hair and green eyes, and had a really pretty smile. Her hair was about medium length and was in a braid. "So, how long have you been at the base for, Anna?"

"I got here yesterday, actually," the brunette said with a chuckle. "I kinda just came across the base on my own. Turns out that my aunt and uncle, who I haven't seen in seventeen years, are also here."

"That's crazy, I bet that was a fun family reunion." Sam said smiling at her. The two girls talked for awhile and got to know each other. Sam was from Chicago, Illinois and had managed to stay away from the Healers with her mom, dad and older sister, Georgie.

"Wow, that's great that you and your family got to stay together." Anna said. "My brother and I got separated from our parents right before the war starts. We've been on the run ever since. Now I and my group of friends are trying to rescue my brother from the Healers."

"That's really brave of you. I know a lot of people who wouldn't go anywhere near the Healers," Sam said. "You're really brave for doing that, Anna."

"Thanks," Anna said. She blushed a little at Sam's compliment.

"Hey, why don't you sit with my family and me at dinner? Just so you can get to know some of the people here besides your aunt and uncle." Sam suggested with a kind smile.

Anna hesitated to accept Sam's offer at first. "Would it be okay if my friends came and sat with you and your family as well?" She asked.

"Yeah of course," Sam said. "We'll push a couple tables together." She stated with a smile.

"Okay," Anna said, accepting her offer.

Later that evening at dinner, Anna sat down next to Sam and called all her friends over there. Skylar, Dale, Meleike and Ester came over and sat down with Anna. They all got acquainted with Sam and her family. "Your friends are super nice, Anna." She said. "I may have to join your little group."

"If you did join us, you might have to leave your family. We move pretty fast and having a ton of extra people might slow us down," Skylar said to Sam.

The table laughed and Sam smiled at Anna, who was smiling back. "I'm sure we could make room." She said, genuinely meaning what she had just said. "The more the merrier right?"

Everyone else nodded, Skylar being the only one who was opposed to Sam joining the group. "Does she even know about our attacks against the Healers? Surely she wouldn't want to risk her life, and the lives of her family members," Skylar pointed out.

"Relax, Skylar." Sam said smiling. "I wouldn't ever put my family at risk. That's not who I am."

"Well, I still hope we can convince you to join us." Anna said.

"I think you'll be able to." Sam said, placing her hand on Anna's for a moment in a flirtatious way.

It was the worst timing for Sam to do that because Brittany walked into the cafeteria. And as she looked around the room for her friends, she saw Anna sitting and giggling with some girl she'd never seen before. Her heart ached a little until she saw Anna's hand and the girl's hand resting against one another. This made her get choked up and she got in line to get food before walking towards the exit of the cafeteria to go find a place to eat alone.

"Hey, has anyone seen Brittany?" Dale asked out of curiosity.

Skylar pointed her out. "There she is, she's leaving the cafeteria."

Anna looked up and saw Brittany hastily making her way out of the cafeteria. She pulled her hand away from Sam's and stood up. "I'm going to go talk to Brittany for a second. I'll be right back," she told everyone at the table.

Sam had a look of confusion on her face as she watched Anna walk away. "Who's Brittany?" She asked.

"Brittany is Anna's girlfriend." Ester informed her, taking a bite of her mashed potatoes.

"Oh, I had no idea Anna had a girlfriend." Sam said, feeling a bit uneasy. "She didn't really mention her."

"Well, they're kind of arguing right now so that's probably why Anna didn't say anything." Skylar mentioned as he took a sip of water. "Anna's very private about her feelings."

Anna finally managed to catch up to Brittany right as the blonde was about to leave the cafeteria. "Hey, Britt!" She called out to get her attention. "Wait for me!"

Brittany didn't wait, in fact she picked up the pace a little, walking out of the cafeteria. Anna kept following her, trying to get her attention.

"Britt, come on. I just want to talk to you okay? I promise." Anna said, catching up to walk beside Brittany.

"So what, you seem pretty happy talking and flirting with that other girl. Why the fuck would you need me?" She said, walking further down the hallway.

"I wasn't flirting with Sam. I mean, if I was, I didn't mean to. Can we just talk? If you don't want to talk, can I just have a minute to apologize to you?" Anna said.

"She obviously thought you were, considering she was holding your hand when I walked in." Brittany said before setting her food down and turning to Anna. "You said you wanted to apologize, so go ahead." She said irritably.

"I know that you're still mad at me so this apology might not work, but I'm sorry for our argument earlier. You're right―I shouldn't keep things from you, and from now on I'm going to do my best to be honest with you. I'm still working on it, but I'm getting better, okay?" Anna said, looking in Brittany's eyes.

"And you just suddenly changed your mind and decided open up? How do I know you're not just saying this?" Brittany said, playing hard to get.

"Because I don't want to lose you, Brittany. You're the best thing that's ever happened to me, and I'll hate myself for the rest of my life if I let you go because I couldn't tell you the truth," Anna said sincerely.

"Anna," Brittany said. "I accept your apology." She stated. Anna smiled and began to lean in. "But right now, while I eat my dinner I just want to eat it alone."

"What do you mean?" Anna asked.

"I mean right now I just want to eat by myself. I'll come and talk to you later okay? Our argument this morning really messed with my head and I'm still cooling down from it."

Anna nodded. "Alright. I'll be hanging out in my room after dinner if you want to come talk to me," she said, smiling a bit at Brittany before turning around to go back to the cafeteria.

Brittany watched her girlfriend walk back towards the mess hall before she turned to eat her food.

After dinner it was time for her final workout of the day, she went into the training room and started doing some cardio. First by running on the treadmill for forty-five minutes before she moved to strength exercises.

As Brittany was working out, Sam and her sister Georgie walked into the training room. Sam saw Brittany, remembering her from earlier, and approached the blonde. "Hey, you're Brittany right? I'm Samantha, but most people call me Sam," she said.

Brittany was rubbing chalk on her hands as she got ready to do chin-ups. "Hi Sam, and yes my name is Brittany. But most people call me Britt." She said, half smiling before walking over to the chin-up bar.

Sam watched as Brittany did her chin-ups. "Wow, you're really strong. I don't think I've ever seen someone do as many chin-ups as you," she commented.

Brittany was kind of annoyed and curious as to why Sam just seemed to be lingering by her. "Uh, thanks." She said as she finished her first set of twenty.

Sam could tell that Brittany was starting to get annoyed by her presence. "Am I bothering you? I can go somewhere else if you'd like."

"Well, usually people come here train, not lure around others." Brittany said, hopping down from the bar. "Plus, I saw you flirting with my girlfriend earlier. Which doesn't exactly put you on my good side." She said, chalking up her hands again.

"I know that I shouldn't have flirted with Anna, and I'm sorry. I wouldn't have done it if I had known that she had a girlfriend. She didn't mention that she was seeing anyone, so I just assumed that she wasn't with anyone," Sam said in her defense.

"She didn't even mention me, did she?" Brittany asked, clapping the leftover chalk off of her hands. "When you were talking with her, did she even talk about me? At all?"

Sam shook her head. "If she had mentioned you, I wouldn't have flirted with her. And I know that I'm still guilty, and I'm not trying to say that I didn't do anything wrong. But I definitely would have made a different choice had I known that you two were together."

"But she didn't stop you from flirting with her either, so it's not like you were completely at fault." Brittany said, hopping up onto the bars and doing her next set of twenty chin-ups.

"I'm not going to try to make any more moves on Anna. I don't want to ruin your relationship or anything like that," Sam said.

Before Brittany spoke again, she finished her second set of chin-ups and hopped down. "Look, I believe you okay. It's just the fact that Anna didn't stop you from flirting with her that upsets me." She said. "For someone who's been in a relationship, I'm pretty bad at showing someone that they're mine. Do you have any suggestions?"

Sam shrugged her shoulders. "I don't really know if I can help you. Maybe just talk to her about it? I know that's what everyone says, but a simple conversation can go a long way."

"Believe me, Anna isn't big on talking." Brittany said, getting more chalk on her hands for one last set of chin-ups.

"What makes you say that?" Sam asked.

"Let me guess, she's been a complete open book to you." Brittany said, leaning against the wall. "When we first met, she barely even talked to me and when she did she was rude and bitchy. And she never gave me a reason until she told me that she was falling in love with me. And then when we first got together, I asked her why she loved me and pretty much refused to answer. And now this morning when we making out she wouldn't talk to me and I thought I had done something wrong. I barely even know what happened to parents and the rest of her family. Like I don't even know if she has any cousins."

"Oh, she does, she told me they're on base. Their names are Camilla, Daniel and Paul." Sam said, instantly regretting that as soon as she said it when she saw the look of both hurt and anger on Brittany's face. "I'm sorry, that was for Anna to tell, not me. I think I'll get going before I mess anything else up," Sam said, looking down at the floor awkwardly before walking away from Brittany, leaving the blonde standing there dumbfounded as to why Anna didn't tell her these things herself.

She marched out of the training room and went to Anna's room knocking on her door constantly until Anna opened up. "You can tell a complete stranger about the fact that you have cousins here on base but you can't tell me? Your girlfriend? Am I just that fucking judgemental? Am I just so hard to talk to?" She said with angry tears welling up in her blue eyes.

Anna pulled Brittany inside and closed the door. "Who told you that?" The brunette asked, surprised by Brittany's sudden outburst. "You're not judgemental, not at all, Brittany. Who told you that you were?"

"Well you obviously feel like I'm not easy enough to talk to, so nobody had to tell me. That's just how it makes me feel. It makes me feel like you think I'm judgemental of you. Sam, your new best friend seems to know a hell of about you for knowing you for the past ten hours. Anna, I didn't even fucking know that your aunt and uncle had kids and Sam knows them by their first names." Brittany said crying, unable to keep her feelings bottled up. "How is that supposed to make me feel when my girlfriend can't even tell me her family tree? I'll tell how it makes me feel. Like I'm a shitty girlfriend for not knowing these things."

There was a silence between the two of them and Brittany wiped some of her own tears. "Look, I don't care if I'm not the first to know everything about you, but I shouldn't ever be last." Brittany said. "If you want me as much as you say you do, then talk to me. Don't leave me in the dark." She said as more tears fell down her face before she fell back against the wall, sliding to the ground as she sobbed.

Anna sat down on the floor next to Brittany, wiping away some of the blonde's tears with her thumb. "I know I haven't told you everything, and I'm sorry. I told you that I'm going to be honest with you moving forward, and that's what I plan on doing. So what do you want to know?" Anna said in a soft, gentle voice.

"I just don't want to talk right now." Brittany said, looking at her hands. "I'm just going to take a shower, I need to anyways." She said, standing up and opening the door to walk out of Anna's room.

Anna sat there against the wall of her room for a moment, her heart hurting as she watched the blonde leave through the door. After a moment, Anna stood up and exited her room. She walked towards the showers, and Britt just stepping into one. Anna walked over and began to remove her clothes. "May I join you?" She asked in a soft voice.

Brittany heard Anna's voice and pulled back the shower curtain, seeing the brunette standing outside of the shower stall. The blonde looked down at the tiled floor, hesitating for a few moments. "I guess you can," she said quietly, looking back up at Anna.

Once the other girl got in, Brittany closed the curtain. It was awkward for a few moments but then Anna spoke up. "You don't have to talk to me, okay? I just wanting to say something."

"And that couldn't wait till I was out of the shower?" Brittany asked.

"Well a wise guy named Skylar told me to talk sooner rather than later, because I don't the girl of my dreams to slip away." Anna started, clearing her throat a little. "Britt, I'm all in. And because I'm all in, I'm going to tell you exactly what I'm feeling right now at this moment. Right now, I feel like I'm losing you. And it's not because you're controlling me or anything you've done. It's because I haven't told you how I feel. And I can't lose you Britt, you the one thing that I've gotten right so far in my life. I'm messed up, and I'm such a bitch. I'm such a bitch that sometimes I wonder why you even fell in love with me because of how crabby I am most of the time. But if you ever decided to break up with me, I'd be devastated. And if something happened to you and I couldn't save you I'd lose my fucking mind."

"You're the one and only thing I want. And I promise you, that I will always tell you how I'm feeling from here on out." Anna said, making a pinky promise. "Just please don't be mad at me anymore, and please don't walk out on me. I honestly can't picture a semi-happy life if you're not there, by my side."

There was a silence that seemed to last forever before Brittany finally spoke up. "Anna," the blonde started, turning to look at the brunette. "I want to believe you. I really, really do. But I don't know how I can believe you when you've said this to me before, and yet you still have been dishonest with me?"

"Britt, I'm new at this. I'm trying my hardest to be the girlfriend you want and deserve. I know I'm not great at it yet, and I know it may be a while before I'm good at it, but please don't give up on us." Anna said, getting choked up and leaning her forehead to Brittany's. Tears welled up in Anna's eyes. "You're my everything Brittany, and I know that I've screwed up too many times to count." She said, letting down tears from her eyes that felt cold compared to the hot shower water that felt like needles as it hit her skin. "But you're one thing in my life that's made me truly happy, and there's nothing on earth I want more than to be with you. Please, please don't let go. I don't what I'll if you let go."

"I'm not going anywhere, Anna. I want to be with you just as much as you want to be with me. But you better not be lying to me, okay? I just want us to stop fighting, but I can't keep giving you second chances if it's obvious that you're not going to take the chances seriously," Brittany said. "Can you promise me that you're going to be honest with me?"

"Yes, yes, yes I promise." Anna said instantly. "I promise that I will take this chance seriously. I promise to be honest with you and I promise to not take you for-granted. Because I love you more than anything Brittany, and I will keep these promises. I don't ever want to lose you."

"I don't want to lose you either," Brittany whispered, leaning her forehead against Anna's. The blonde leaned in and kissed Anna slowly, pulling away after a few moments.

Anna looked into Brittany's eyes, and the piercing blue shade they were. It made Anna smile, and she leaned in and kissed Brittany again. "Come with me," she murmured. "I want you to stay with me tonight." She whispered.

"I'm going to need to finish my shower first before I go anywhere," Brittany murmured back with a cute little giggle. "But I will stay with you tonight once I'm done showering."

"Well duh, I know you need to finish you shower first." Anna said chuckling at Brittany's adorable giggle. She took Brittany's bruised hands from the punching bags and kissed them gently. "You're my everything." She whispered, switching to her other hand and kissing the multiple bruises on that hand. "And I will never, ever withhold the truth from you. Never again." She said, meaning it with every fiber in her body.

Brittany smiled, sensing the genuine tone of Anna's voice. "I know that you won't. I believe you," the blonde said, watching as Anna kissed the bruises on both of her hands.

"Good, because I love you and I don't ever want to lose you." Anna said before kissing Brittany's lips gently. "Ever."

 **We know that was a pretty dramatic chapter, but it's the hard times that people prove how much they care. And Anna and Brittany obviously both care a lot. Plus who wouldn't want to picture Brittany Snow working out? We are introducing Sam and Georgie to the group. Don't worry, there will be no love triangle in this fan fic. But either Sam or Georgie may become Josh's girl. You'll just have to wait and see! Plus we may meet a couple of Anna's cousins.**

 **Until next time,**

 **Elle and Gabi.**


	15. Chapter 14: Give Me Love

Chapter 14: Give Me Love

A couple days later, Anna and the rest of the group had gotten accustomed to life in the rebel base. They were pretty free to do what they wanted during the day, except if they were chosen to go on watch, but even that was rare since there were so many others in the base. Anna and Brittany spent most of their time in the training room to prepare for their mission to rescue Josh from the Freedom Healers, which they knew would be a daunting task but also one that they could complete if they worked together.

At the moment, Brittany was testing herself on how long she could hold a plank, so far she had been holding it for three minutes and fifteen seconds. Anna was doing bicep curls beside her, watching her in awe. "How are you not shaking yet? I'd be dead on my planks by now."

Brittany chuckled at her girlfriend's comment. "I guess what it comes down to is focus. If you're focused enough on holding the plank, then you'll hold it. If you let your mind wander, your muscles will be weaker and you won't hold it as long. If that makes any sense," the blonde said.

"Well, it has helped you have a banging hot body." Anna said with a confident smirk on her face, it also made Brittany chuckle.

"Thank you babe, I'm glad you think so." Brittany said, smiling at her.

"Anyone in their right mind would think so," Anna replied, smiling back at Brittany. "I'm just stating the facts. There's no real need to thank me."

"Well, I'd be stating a fact if I said your body was insanely hot and anyone who thinks otherwise is lying to themselves." Brittany said as she reached five minutes on her plank. The goal was to hold it for ten minutes. "Do you think you could give me some motivation?" She asked. "I'm halfway through my ten minute plank and I need some inspiration."

"Hmm," Anna said, thinking of the best way she could motivate Brittany. "How about this: for each minute that you hold this plank, we get to make out for five minutes. You're already at five minutes, so if you hold the plank for another five minutes then we get to make out for almost an hour," Anna proposed with a playful smirk.

Brittany smirked and then said. "That's definitely going to help me hold this plank now." She took deep breaths as she got deeper into her plank.

Two more minutes past and Brittany could feel the thin layer of sweat that draped itself over her body. "Three more minutes babe," Anna said smiling. "You can do this."

"I can do this." Brittany said to herself. "I can do this."

"Yeah, you can do it, Britt. Only three more minutes to go. You've already gotten this far," Anna said encouragingly as she watched Brittany continue to hold the plank even though it was apparent that she was getting more and more tired.

Two minutes and thirty seconds past, only thirty more seconds until Brittany had reached her goal. Her abs were aching and her arms were growing tired and sweaty, slipping against the floor. She took deep breaths, knowing she couldn't give out, not today. And not ever.

Anna began to count down the seconds. "Ten, nine, eight, seven," she said, watching as Brittany tried as hard as she could to hold the plank. "Six, five, four, three, two, one."

As Anna said 'one,' Brittany groaned and let herself fall to the ground on her stomach. "Fucking hell, that was stupid hard." She said laughing and turning over on her back laying on the yoga mat and chuckling as she closed her eyes. "My abs are going to hate me tomorrow morning."

"Well, look on the bright side. Now you and I get to make out for fifty minutes. I know that I'm looking forward to that," Anna said with a chuckle. She stood up and offered her hand to Brittany so that the blonde could take it.

Brittany chuckled at Anna's comment and then took her hand, standing up and breathing to get through the pain her abs were in the moment. "That's definitely something I'm excited for. But I'm hungry and I need to shower. So let's do those things first and then meet in my room in twenty minutes. Sound good babe?"

Anna nodded as they walked out of the training room. "Yeah, that sounds great. I'll see you in twenty," she said, leaning in and quickly pecking her girlfriend's lips before going to her room to cool off from her workout.

The blonde girl went and grabbed some food from the cafeteria before hopping into the shower. She checked the time and saw that it was noon, which made her smile. Literally everyone would either be in the gym or cafeteria so no one would disturb her and Anna while they had their alone time.

Before she went to Brittany's room, Anna stopped by the cafeteria to grab a bite to eat and something to drink, talking with Dale and Skylar for a couple of minutes as well. Once she finished her food, she left the cafeteria and walked to Brittany's room. The brunette stood outside the door and waited before knocking a few times.

Brittany heard Anna's knock and then pulled her hair up into a messy bun before walking over to the door and opening it. "Hey there, sexy lady." She said with a big smile on her face. "Come on in."

Anna smiled at Brittany's playful remark and went inside the room, shutting the door behind her. "Hello to you too, beautiful," she said as she turned around to face Brittany.

"So, fifty minutes? I believe that was the amount of time that I earned for this makeout session, am I correct?" Brittany said smiling and biting her lip at Anna.

"I mean, we can always go a little over the time limit if you want. It wouldn't be a big deal," Anna replied.

"Good, because I wasn't planning on staying within the time limit anyways." Britt said with a smirk before pulling Anna to her bed and laying her down before climbing on top of her and starting the makeout session by kissing her passionately.

Anna smiled as their lips connected in a passionate kiss. "I love doing this," she murmured, closing her eyes and allowing Brittany to take control as the kiss grew more intense.

"I love it too," Brittany murmured gently against Anna's lips. She ran her hands through Beca's hair before cupping her cheeks and running her tongue along Anna's bottom lip.

Anna's hands rested on Brittany's hips, occasionally running up and down the blonde's sides. Their lips still hadn't left each other's, and Anna wasn't planning on breaking the kiss anytime soon. "I could literally do this all day with you Britt," Anna muttered. She moved her hands to Brittany's back and moved her hands underneath Brittany's shirt, softly scratching against her skin.

"We can do this all day if you want to, babe. I'm not going anywhere in the near future," Brittany murmured back, closing her eyes and sighing with content as Anna's nails left scratches in her skin.

Anna smiled at Britt's comment and then sucked softly on Britt's bottom lip before moving her hands to the girls bum, squeezing it softly. "I may just take you up on that offer." She whispered, slipping her tongue into Brittany's mouth as the kissing session grew more intimate.

With each minute that passed, the makeout session between Anna and Brittany grew more intense. Soon, Brittany was tugging at the hem of Anna's shirt, breaking the kiss for a moment to lift the piece of clothing over the brunette's head.

Anna smirked and then pulled Brittany onto her lap as she leaned up against the headboard. Anna smiled at the girl, who was currently wearing a thick, navy flannel shirt that was too big for her. The brunette admired how easily it was for her girlfriend to pull of anything she wore.

Brittany noticed Anna smiling at her, making the blonde blush and smile as well. "What are you smiling at?" She asked, leaning in and kissing her again.

"You, duh." Anna said with a giggle. "I feel that I have every right to gaze lovingly at my beautiful girlfriend." Anna whispered before wrapping her arms around Brittany's waist, pulling her further up her lap so the space between them was nearly nonexistent. Anna ran her hands up and down Brittany's back underneath her shirt. She softly scratched Britt's skin because she knew the blonde girl liked it.

Brittany smiled at the feeling of Anna's nails scratching her skin. "Yeah, it's a good thing that we're allowed to go over the time limit," she said with a little giggle that Anna found to be absolutely adorable.

"And why is that? I'm not complaining at all, I'm just curious." Anna murmured, moving her lips to Brittany's neck, nipping at it softly.

"Well I like having as much time with you as possible. Plus, you're really turning me on right now," Brittany replied, turning her head to the side to give Anna better access to her neck. Anna groaned at Brittany's words, sucking roughly on the girl's skin to see if she could get a moan out of her.

"I seem to be able to turn you on downstairs rather easily." Anna murmured in her ear, nibbling on Brittany's earlobe before kissing across her neck to pay attention to the other side.

All Brittany could do was weakly nod her head, trying her hardest not to moan. "Oh my god, this is so good," she muttered, biting down on her lip.

Anna then lay Brittany down with her head near the end of the small twin bed and the climbed on top to straddle her before resuming kissing along the younger girl's neck. "If the walls weren't so thin, I'd take you right here, right now." Anna murmured in Brittany's ear, unbuttoning a few buttons to and reaching one hand up to massage Brittany's breast.

"Anna, I-" Brittany started before her words were cut off by a soft moan. "I need you so badly," she murmured, running her fingers through the brunette's hair and tugging on the ends.

"Fuck," Anna said to herself before kissing up the center of Brittany's neck and kissing her lips lustfully. "Shit, Brittany." She whispered, pinning the girls hands above her head as they both began to breath hard.

Brittany's breaths came and went in gasps. "Anna, please," she whimpered, overwhelmed with all the sensations that Anna was giving her at that moment. "I really need you, baby. I really need you."

The young brunette continued unbuttoning Brittany's flannel as the girl squirmed in pleasure at her every move. Anna was beginning to come to terms with what may be happening in that moment. Brittany lay there before her, hot and heavy. And Anna wanted to do her, she wanted to make love to Brittany. She didn't care about the thin walls or the fact that it wasn't the perfect time or most romantic setting. But all Anna knew in that moment was she was in the moment, full of passion and ready to experience the ultimate pleasure sequence with Brittany.

Anna removed Brittany's shirt and let it fall to the floor, leaving the girl in a sports bra and yoga pants. "Are you sure about this baby?" She heaved as their lips moved together in perfect sync.

Brittany nodded her head. "I'm sure, but only if you're sure. We don't have to do this if you're still not ready. I want you to want this as much as I do," the blonde whispered back, still struggling to catch her breath.

"I'm ready," Anna whispered confidently, a smile appearing on her face. She leaned down and kissed Brittany. "I want to make you feel amazing." She whispered, resuming the intense makeout session that was about to become much more.

"I have no doubt in my mind that you'll make me feel amazing," Brittany muttered, feeling her heartbeat speed up as she realized what was happening. "Don't make me wait much longer. I don't know how long I can last."

Just as Anna was about to sneak her hand under Brittany's underwear, a transmission came through the intercom. This made Anna groan. "How many interruptions can we have?" She said in a grumbly voice.

"All rebels report to the mess hall immediately," Anna's Aunt Terry called through the speakers. "We have new information on the capturing of rebel Josh Kendrick."

"We should go to that, it's for your brother." Brittany said sitting up and grabbing her flannel, she too being a bit frustrated by the terrible timing, considering she was about to consummate her relationship with Anna.

Anna nodded, picking up her shirt from the floor and putting it back on. "I'm sorry that we got interrupted," she said to Brittany with a half-smile. "Maybe we can continue later, if you're up for it?" She suggested.

"I really hope we can." Brittany said, smiling at Anna as they both got dressed and made their way towards the mess hall hand in hand for the meeting.

Once they got there, they took a seat with Skylar and Dale. Once everyone seemed to be gathered, Terry stepped out in front of the crowd and the noise died down. "We have just received intelligence that our fellow rebel and my nephew, Josh Kendrick is being held captive in the ruins of Chicago."

Whispers swept across the crowd for a moment before Terry spoke again. "It has been let slip by one of our spies, that he is at the Healer's lare in the eastern outskirts of the city. Greg and I have decided to send out a rescue party to go out and look for him."

When Anna instantly raised her hand along with everyone else in their little group, Terry shook her head. "It has been recommended that you and your friends not take part in this rescue mission. The Healers know you'll be looking for him, and that puts the whole operation at risk. If we send in unfamiliar faces, it'll be less likely that the Healers will find out it's a plot."

"Aunt Terry, I have to go. Please. He's my brother, and I can't just sit by while other people risk their lives to save him," Anna argued, standing up from her chair.

"Anna, it's already been decided. You and your friends will stay here while a select group go out to rescue your brother and hopefully some more innocent lives." Greg stated stepping out beside his wife. "I know you don't like the idea, but it's more likely that we will return successful without any fatalities if you guys stay here."

"This is what we've trained our group to do, Anna." Terry said, being firm but not unkind. "Please, trust us on this."

Anna knew deep down that her aunt and uncle were right, but she didn't want to admit it. The brunette instead walked out of the cafeteria in silence, going to her room. She wanted nothing more than to help find her brother, and knowing that she couldn't go look for him was hurting her.

Britt knew to give Anna some space. She didn't go to find Anna until the brunette didn't show up for dinner. She then got up and walked to Anna's room. The girl knocked on the door and opened it when Anna answered.

"Hey," Brittany said quietly, walking over and sitting down next to Anna on her bed. "It's going to be alright. They're going to find Josh, and they're going to bring him back here and help him heal from whatever injuries he has." Britt said, taking Anna's hand. "Sam and her sister Georgie are on the rescue squad, they told me to tell you that they'll bring him back, safe and sound." Brittany added, trying to cheer her girlfriend up.

Anna was silent as she looked down, trying not to cry. "The worst part is that I know they're right. I know that the best thing is for us to not go on the mission, and that kills me. I don't trust anyone to bring him back. I can't. I'm just going to keep on worrying about this until they bring him home, if they even manage that," Anna said, finally speaking up.

Brittany took Anna's hand and kissed it multiple times, gently. "Is there anything that I can do to help? In any way at all?" She asked, looking at Anna as Anna looked at the floor.

Anna shook her head. "This is something that I'll have to deal with on my own. I appreciate the offer, though. It means a lot to me," she said quietly.

An announcement came over the intercom. "All rebels who volunteered to go on the rescue mission report the main hanger. Repeat, all rebels who volunteered to go on the rescue mission report to the main hander."

As soon as the the announcement ended, Brittany scooted closer to Anna and just held her hand. She then leaned in and kissed Anna's cheek. "If you need anything, don't hesitate to tell me okay? I'm going to go do my final training for the day." She said, kissing Anna's cheek one more time.

Anna nodded. "When you're done with your training, can you come back and cuddle with me for a little bit?" The brunette asked.

"Definitely," Brittany said. She then stood up and then went to do her cardio training.

Once she was done training after about an hour, Brittany took a quick shower and put on some pajamas before heading over to Anna's room. "Hey," she said with some food in her hand. "I figured that you may get hungry at some point and they had chocolate muffins up for grabs in the mess hall, so I grabbed some for you." She said setting them on the bedside table and climbing into bed with Anna.

Anna smiled gratefully towards Brittany. "Thanks, Britt. I appreciate it," she said, taking a bite out of one of the muffins Brittany had gotten for her. "I'm not sure that I'll be able to get in the mood to continue what we were doing earlier. Is that okay with you?"

"I figured that you wouldn't be after your aunt said you couldn't go on the rescue mission." Brittany said with a small shrug. "It's okay with me though, we'll find the right time. And it will be perfect." She said, taking Anna's hand in her own.

"Okay, good. I just didn't want to disappoint you or anything," Anna said, smiling and closing her eyes for a few moments.

"No, you didn't at all." Brittany said. "However, earlier today you certainly had me at the edge of my seat. I really am so excited for when it actually happens." She whispered, smiling and kissing Anna's cheek.

Anna smiled and pulled Brittany closer to her by wrapping her arms around the blonde's waist. "I'm excited too," she murmured in her ear.

Brittany kissed her girlfriend on the lips and then they got under the covers. She cuddled up to Anna and held her close, making sure their bodies were flush against each other.

Anna closed her eyes, resting her head on the pillow next to Brittany's head. "I love you," she murmured softly.

"I love you too," Britt whispered in a soft voice. Her fingers softly ran her hand up and down Anna's arm, closing her eyes and tracing shaped on the brunettes smooth skin.

"You make me so happy. I've never been happier than when I'm with you," Anna replied, smiling as Brittany's fingers trailed up and down her arm.

"You're my perfect match, Anna Kendrick." Britt whispered with her eyes still closed. "My perfect, perfect match."

"You're my perfect match too. Nobody will ever change that," Anna said. They cuddled for awhile longer before falling asleep in each other's arms. Brittany spooned Anna as they slept peacefully.

The next morning, Anna was surprisingly the first to wake up. She slowly got out of bed, being careful not to move too much so she didn't wake up Brittany. She went to the showers to take a quick shower and then returned to her room so she could cuddle some more with Britt.

Brittany was still asleep when Anna got back, so the brunette got back in bed and wrapped her arms around Brittany, smiling as she watched the younger girl sleep. Anna couldn't help the smile spreading across her face, Brittany was just so beautiful. Whether she was fighting of Healers, or wearing an Oscar worthy gown, or sleeping, Anna found Brittany's beauty to be second to none.

A few minutes after Anna returned, Brittany's eyes slowly opened and she yawned, sitting up and stretching. She turned her head and saw that Anna was already awake and smiling at her. "You got up before me? I find that hard to believe," the blonde said with a tired chuckle.

"I know right?" Anna said with a chuckle. "But there's a first for everything." She said smiling widely. She then leaned in and kissed Brittany's lips. "It's almost time for your morning training session. I know I just showered but could I join you? I could use something to get the rescue mission off of my mind."

Brittany nodded. "Of course you can join me for my training session. I always enjoy your company," the blonde replied, leaning in and connecting their lips in a kiss for a second time.

"Great, thank you." Anna said smiling once their lips parted.

A little over half an hour later, the two girls got out of bed and got dressed before heading over to the training room. Brittany started out with thirty minutes on the treadmill, and then taped up her knuckles to punch the punching bag.

Meanwhile, Anna decided to start with some planks because she had never been particularly good at them. Even though it didn't feel like it, the brunette was slowly making progress as she was able to hold her planks a little bit longer each time.

After working on the punching bag for a while, Brittany looked over at Anna and smiled. She took the tape off of her hands and walked over to the pull-up bars. "Hey, will you come keep track of how many I do, babe? I'm trying to break my record of thirty-three."

Anna nodded and stood up, walking over to the pull-up bars and joining Brittany. "Should we do a similar little competition to yesterday, where you get rewarded with part of a makeout session for a certain amount of pull-ups?"

Brittany chuckled but then nodded. "I like the sound of that." She said smiling. "Though it may get just as heated as yesterday," she said biting her lip at her girlfriend.

"I wouldn't have a problem with that," Anna said with a little smirk. "How about you?" She asked.

"Hmmm," Brittany hummed, pretending to have to think about that. "I think that I'd be okay with that." She said with a big smile.

"Hopefully we won't get interrupted like last time if things manage to get that far," Anna said, smiling back at Brittany.

"Knowing our luck, we're probably going to get cockblocked again." Brittany said laughing a little before she clapped chalk onto her hands. "Alright. My record is thirty-three, I think for every pull-up I do after I break it should add two minutes of making out."

"That sounds good to me. Are you ready to start the pull-ups?" Anna said, watching as Brittany prepared herself.

The blonde took a deep breath before nodding. "Yeah I'm ready." She took off her shirt since she could move easier in her sports bra alone. Shen hopped up and grabbed the bar, starting to do the pull-ups in an expert fashion. Within ten seconds she had done ten pull-ups, like a professional crossfit athlete.

Anna was impressed, to say the least, at how fast Brittany was able to do the pull-ups. "You're really flying through these, babe. Keep up the good work," she said encouragingly as Brittany reached her twentieth pull-up. The blonde girl felt the pain begin to kick in but she didn't give in, she couldn't give in.

"Fuck this sucks ass." Brittany said with a chuckle as she reached her twenty-fifth pull-up. She started to slow down a little but she continued to fight for it, not planning on getting up anytime soon. She made it to thirty-three and kept on going past it, quickly reaching thirty-eight.

"That's it, Brittany. You can do this. Keep going," Anna said, counting in her head as Brittany continued to do the pull-ups. The blonde reached forty-five a little less than a minute later, still doing the pull-ups relatively quickly considering how tired she was becoming.

"I'm going to make it to sixty-six pull-ups babe, twice the amount of my last record." Brittany let out as she continued to persevere. She felt her arms begin to get weak as she hit fifty-nine. Seven more to go, she knew she could quit now. "Sixty-three," she said huffing and puffing as she did the last few. "Sixty-four, sixty-five, sixty-six!" She said before dropping face first onto the mat because of the fact her arms were weak to catch her fall. Good thing it was only three feet feet off the ground. "Wooo, that was fucking hard." She said laughing as she turned over onto her back.

"You not only beat your personal record for pull-ups, but we also get to make out for over an hour. Isn't that great?" Anna said with a chuckle.

"If I can move my arms." Brittany said giggling and standing up. "But I think you know, that it's probably more than making out that's going to on if you do some of the stuff you did yesterday." Britt said with a killer wink.

Anna blushed and looked down towards the floor for a moment before looking back up to Brittany. "If you want me to do some of the things that I was doing yesterday, I'd be more than happy to oblige," the brunette said.

Skylar then burst through the door to the training room where he found Brittany and Anna. "Guys, the rescue party is back. They…" He paused for a moment, almost out of breath from sprinting across the entire base to find them. "They saved Josh! He's in the hospital wing!"

Anna's eyes widened at the news. "Oh my god, are you being serious right now?" She said in a tone of both happiness and disbelief. "I need to go see him! Will they let me see him right now?"

"He's awake but he's pretty woozy. Terry sent me to come and find you! Come on, let's go." Skylar said before heading towards the door, holding it open for Anna and Brittany.

The three of them raced across the base and made their way to the hospital wing. Anna was still processing the news, not sure if she was dreaming or if Josh had really been rescued. They made it to the hospital wing and Anna was the first person through the door, only stopping to ask which room Josh was in.

They went down the hall and into Josh's room, Anna nearly breaking down into tears of joy when she saw her brother. Josh looked over and smiled the best he could when he saw his sister. "Hey there, little sister." He said as she ran up to him and gave him a gentle hug. He had been held captive for about a week, and in that time he had been tortured a couple times and he had been starved, so he was eating some mashed potatoes, green beans, corn, and chicken.

"What did they do to you, Josh?" Anna asked, both wanting and not wanting to hear the answer to that question. "I swear, if they even laid a hand on you I'm going to find and kill whoever did it."

"Well, you're going to be killing a lot of people then," Josh said with a chuckle. "I'm guessing you can tell by all the food here that they didn't feed me. They used shock torture to try and get some information out of me but I didn't say anything." Josh said taking a bit of chicken. "But I'm going to be okay, and we're together again. That's what matters."

Anna smiled and continued to talk with her brother for the next hour or two before the nurses had everyone leave so that Josh could get some well-deserved rest. "I can't believe he's actually back," Anna said to Brittany, "I was starting to think that I'd never see him again."

Brittany smiled as they sat down to eat their lunch. "Josh is stronger than he likes to say he is. I knew he'd make his way back to you." She said, squeezing Anna's hand and then taking a bite of her sandwich. "So, would after lunch be a good time for our little secret meeting in my bedroom?"

Anna nodded. "After lunch would be perfect. Do you want us to meet right after lunch or to wait a little while so everyone else is off doing their own thing?"

"How about in an hour or so, when everyone is busy and can't bother us." Brittany suggested, placing her hand on Anna's lap, stroking it softly.

"Alright, I'll be at your room in an hour," Anna said, leaning in and kissing Brittany's cheek softly. "I'll probably go hang out with Josh for a little bit after lunch and then I'll be on my way to our secret meeting."

Brittany bit her lip and smiled. "I look forward to seeing you then." She whispered, in Anna's ear.

After lunch, Britt washed off her body in the shower and made her way over to her bedroom, putting on some black jogger sweats and a sports bra and a loose navy tank top before putting her hair in a braid.

Meanwhile, Anna was with Josh in the medical wing. Her brother had just woken up, so Anna didn't want to bother him too much since he was still very tired. "I'm going to go now so that you can rest your eyes a little more. I'll see you around dinnertime, big brother," she said, smiling and waving before leaving the room and heading over to Brittany's.

Brittany was reading an old book that she had found in her bedroom called "The Help," while she waited for Anna. A huge smile appeared on her face when she heard a knock at the door. She looked through the peephole and opened it up, pulling Anna inside and kissing her passionately as she closed the door.

Anna chuckled at this sudden move, which she wasn't surprised by. "Well, it looks like someone has been waiting to see me," she murmured, her lips still on Brittany's.

"Yes, yes I have." Brittany said as she pulled Anna towards the bed. "I want you to take complete control." She murmured, tugging on Anna's lips with her teeth.

"But this is my first time really doing any of this. How will I know if I'm doing it right?" Anna asked.

Brittany offered a kind smile and then looked deeply and lovingly into Beca's eyes. "I'll talk you through it. I know it's a bit nerve wracking, I was so scared before my first time. But just take a deep breath, and do what you know makes me feel good. I'll tell you what to do if you get nervous." She said leaning in and kissing her softly. "You're going to be amazing Anna."

The brunette nodded and then kissed her back, slowly pushing Brittany onto the bed before getting on the bed and sitting against the headboard. She pulled Brittany onto her lap and began to kiss Brittany's neck while her hands ran up and down the girl's back.

Brittany closed her eyes as she allowed the brunette to take control and get a feel for everything. "This feels really nice, baby. Keep doing this," she murmured, tilting her head to the side and giving Anna better access to her neck.

"You really like neck kisses, don't you babe?" Anna said with a smile before she sucked right behind Britt's ear in her weak spot. She created a small purple hickey in the girl's skin while her hands moved to the front of Britt's body, unbuttoning her flannel and throwing it to the floor. Anna began massaging both of Brittany's boobs through her sports bra while her lips returned to Brittany's.

Brittany already felt herself starting to get hot and bothered, even though Anna had barely started. The blonde hummed in approval, running her fingers through Anna's long brown hair and occasionally tugging at the ends of it. "God, you're already driving me insane," the girl muttered.

"Oh yeah?" Anna whispered, tugging on Brittany's bottom lip before sneaking her tongue into the blonde girl's mouth. She explored Brittany's mouth expertly with her tongue while one of her hands pulled Brittany's body further up her lap.

Brittany slowly started to grind their hips together, creating friction between them. "You're doing such a good job, baby. Such a good job," she whispered, resisting the urge to let out a moan.

Anna felt a shock of arousal spreading through her body once Brittany decided to begin rolling her body against her own. She hummed against Brittany's lips and grabbed her hips, holding the girl and helping their bodies move together. "Ahh, Brittany. That feels so good, babe." She whimpered, moving her lips to her neck.

Brittany continued to grind their hips together, fully aware of the effect it was having on Anna. "This feels good for me too," she murmured in Anna's ear. With each second that passed, the tension between Brittany and Anna continued to grow.

"I want to touch you," Anna whispered, seductively in Brittany's ear. "I want to make you moan and scream my name." She growled, nipping at Brittany's earlobe. "Just tell me how much you need me, and I'll give it all to you. Right here, right now."

Brittany felt her core heat up at those words, and she moaned softly. "Please, Anna. I need you so badly," she whined, grabbing one of Anna's hands and pressing it against her core. "I need you to touch me," she whispered.

"Fuck," Anna murmured to herself. She then removed Brittany's bra and sucked on her breasts, paying equal attention to the both of them while her hands pulled down the waistband of Brittany's sweatpants. Anna began kissing needily all over Brittany's body and left love bites and hickeys all over her stomach. "I'm going to make you feel so good babe," she murmured against Brittany's inner thigh as she kissed all over her body.

"Don't make me wait any longer, Anna. I need you now. Please," Brittany whispered, desperation in her voice as she started to lose control over herself.

"You're so hot, Brittany." Anna mutter, slipping off Brittany's underwear and kissing up her body to her lips while she dropped the panties on the floor, leaving Britt completely naked. She then gave Britt what she wanted, and began rubbing her wet folds with her fingers, touching her where she needed it the most.

Brittany's breath hitched and she bit down hard on her lip, trying to stay as quiet as possible while Anna started to pleasure her. "Oh my god-" she muttered, gripping tightly onto the sheets of the bed. Anna kissed her to keep her from moaning too loud.

The brunette then slipped a finger inside of Brittany and started thrusting it at a good pace. "Is this okay babe?" She asked, looking into Brittany's eyes for assurance that she was doing it right.

"This is perfect, Anna," Brittany mumbled against the brunette's lips. "This is absolutely perfect."

Anna then added a second finger and went a little faster, keeping intense eye contact with Brittany. "You know there have been times where I've touched myself while I was thinking you baby." She whispered, sucking on Brittany's neck roughly while she thrusted.

Brittany moaned at Anna's words, turned on by the thoughts that came into her mind. "Oh really? Why were you thinking of me?" She whispered.

"Because you're so beautiful, and so sexy. I couldn't get you out of my head." Anna murmured, sucking on Brittany's earlobe while her fingers thrusted at a good and consistent pace. "Especially when I saw in that towel, you looked so hot." She whispered, her hot breath on Brittany's neck.

"Sometimes I think of you too," the blonde murmured, closing her eyes and gripping onto the sheets tightly. "Well, not only sometimes. More like all the time."

Anna smirked and kissed Brittany's lips roughly so she could feel the moans on her girlfriend's lips. She slipped her tongue into Brittany's mouth briefly before moving her lips to the girl's neck. "You'll be wanting to tug on my hair and not those sheets babe," she whispered sensually nibbling on Brittany's ear before kissing down her body and sucking on her breasts. "Do you enjoy receiving head babe?" Anna murmured as she swirled her tongue and took Brittany's breast in her mouth.

"What do you think, babe? I'm sure that you can answer that question for yourself," Brittany mumbled, feeling a moan slowly rise up her throat. "Fuck, you're so good at this. I wasn't expecting you to be this good."

"I just wanted to make sure babe," Anna said, chuckling at Brittany who was so hot and bothered under her. Anna smiled and kissed Brittany's neck before moving her lips down Britt's body in a slow, and gentle trail before she started giving Brittany head. "Shit, this tastes good!" Anna said smiling and flicking her tongue around. "You taste so good babe," she murmured as her fingers thrusted and her tongue explored the blonde's wet folds.

Brittany's moans got louder and more frequent as Anna began to give her head. "Holy fuck, Anna," she whimpered, pushing the brunette's head closer to her core. "Keep going, baby! Keep going!"

The younger girls moans spurred Anna on, and she sucked softly as she licked her girlfriend's wet folds while her fingers hit the girl's g-spot. "Oh my god Britt, you're so fucking wet!" She moaned against the girl's core.

"I can't help it, baby. You do such a good job at turning me on," Brittany muttered, moaning loudly once more. She felt herself getting closer and closer to her breaking point. "I'm almost there, Anna!"

"Fuck, you're so hot baby girl." Anna murmured against Chloe's core as she continued to pleasure the girl. "Let go for me, scream my name!"

Brittany didn't need any more encouragement from Anna before she hit her climax, burying her face in one of the pillows to muffle her screams of Anna's name. Anna smiled and finished Brittany off swiftly, cleaning her up with her tongue sucking her fingers clean before kissing up the blonde's body to her lips. "How was that babe?"

"Anna…" Brittany said, struggling to catch her breath. Her chest was heaving as she took deep breaths. "Anna, that was incredible. Thank you so much," she murmured.

"Good," Anna breathed a sigh of relief, leaning down to kiss Britt on the lips again in a gentle and tender peck. "Good, that's all wanted. To make you feel incredible." She whispered, her hot breath against Brittany's face. "You've been wanting that for a while, and I was am ready to give it to you whenever you need me too." She whispered.

Brittany smiled and leaned their foreheads together for a few moments, closing her eyes as well. "That was better than anything I could have ever dreamed of. Thank you, Anna. I really mean it. Thank you."

"Brittany?" Anna murmured.

"Hmm," the blonde murmured before opening her eyes and looking up at Anna.

"I want you," Anna whispered, linking their fingers together and looking directly into Brittany's eyes. "I'm ready and I want you." She said kissing Brittany deeply on the lips. "I want you bad."

Brittany smiled and leaned up, connecting her lips with Anna's in a sweet kiss. "I know, babe," she mumbled, her lips still against the brunette's. "Are you sure you're ready?"

"Britt, I've never been more sure of anything. I'm so ready," Anna answered confidently. "I want to know what it feels like, to feel that connection with you." She smiled when Brittany flipped them over so she was on top on the brunette.

Brittany broke the kiss and gazed into Anna's eyes. "Okay," she whispered, a smile flashing across her face. "If you're ready for this, then I'll do everything in my power to make you feel as amazing as possible."

"You will, I know you will babe." Anna murmured and kissed Brittany again with passion, love and lust. "Show me what it's like to feel that pleasure."

Brittany broke the kiss and moved her lips to Anna's neck, nipping at the skin just below the brunette's ear. "Tell me how this feels," she murmured.

"Heavenly," Anna murmured, holding Brittany's head as her lips and teeth nipped on her skin. She closed her eyes and let Brittany take full control of the situation.

Brittany smiled at Anna's response. "Good, babe. That's how I want it to feel," she said, continuing to trail her lips across Anna's neck. The kisses Brittany left against her skin turned Anna on even more, she felt a shock of arousal pulse through her body and down to her core.

"I need more, Britt." She let out in a whisper as she got more turned on. "I need more, I'm so wet for you."

"How wet are you, baby? I know I must be driving you crazy right now. How badly do you want me?" Brittany purred in Anna's ear. Anna whimpered, wanting feel how good Brittany was. She grabbed and tugged on Brittany's blonde hair before kissing her lips.

"I'm so wet, Britt." Anna whispered. "Watching you moan because of me, it turned me on so much babe. I know you'll make this so good babe, take your time and show what making love really feels like." She moaned, kissing Brittany in a rough way.

Brittany moaned at Anna's words to turn on the brunette even more, tugging on her lips with her teeth. "You're so hot, baby. So, so hot," the blonde muttered, running her hands along Anna's thighs.

Feeling Brittany smoothly graze up and down her thighs with her gentle but strong hands made Anna whimper in anticipation. She was whipped by Brittany, and the blonde had gotten her under her spell. "Britt, more." She moaned. "Please I'm so hot for you."

"Stop talking so much and maybe I'll give you what you want," Brittany growled in the brunette's ear, nipping at the skin on her neck before smashing their lips together. Those demanding words made Anna keep her mouth shut, but that didn't stop her from moaning when Brittany's lips collided with her own.

Whenever Britt showed her dominate side, it made Anna hot and heavy, so it was safe to say that Anna was pretty turned on at this point.

Once Anna had gotten quiet, Brittany smirked with satisfaction. "There. Now that's more like it," she said, leaning down and kissing the brunette's lips. "Now that you've done what I've asked, I'll give you a reward."

Anna loved this demanding side of Brittany, it made her feel butterflies and she couldn't help but moan once again at the blonde girl's words.

Brittany pulled away from the kiss slowly and gazed into Anna's eyes, smiling softly. "I love you," she murmured softly, still looking into the brunette's blue eyes. "And I'm now going to show you just how much." Brittany moved her lips to Anna's neck, slowly inserting two fingers inside Anna.

This made the older girl's breath hitch slowly, and she let out a soft moan once Brittany's fingers got situated. Anna had touched herself before, but having Brittany do it was much more pleasurable. "Fucking hell, Britt!" She moaned, feeling Brittany's fingers slowly begin to thrust while her angelic lips sucked all across her neck.

"I bet you've never felt this good before, huh?" Brittany whispered, smirking as Anna squirmed around at her every move. The only answer Anna could give was a soft shake of the head as Brittany continued to pleasure her in ways she had never believed were possible. She moaned and closed her eyes, bucking her hips closer to Brittany's fingers, trying feel as much sexual pleasure as possible.

"Oh my go-" Anna was cut off by a gasp as Brittany attached her mouth to one of Anna's breasts. "Fuck!"

With every moan that Anna let out, Brittany only began to go harder, knowing that with every second that passed the brunette was getting closer to reaching her orgasm. Brittany kissed Anna's lips, humming softly. "What else do you want me to do, baby?"

Anna moaned against Brittany's lips, and tugged against Britt's bottom lip with her teeth for a moment before she pulled back. "I want to know what that tongue of yours can do." She whispered, panting as her breathing picked up and she let out more sounds of pleasure.

Brittany smirked at Anna's response. "I figured that you would say that," she murmured, pulling away from the kiss slowly and starting to kiss down Anna's body. The soft kisses Brittany left along Anna's body made the girl moan even more as Brittany thrusted in and out of her.

"Brittany, you're so-" Anna was cut off by the feeling of Britt's lips traveling down her body. "Fuck!" She moaned. "You're so good babe."

"I haven't even gotten started yet," Brittany said, her lips still working wonders on Anna's skin. She reached her inner thighs and nipped softly, leaving a few hickeys. "Are you ready, babe?" She said, hovering close to Anna's core.

"I'm so ready, babe." Anna whispered, running her hands through Britt's hair. "Oh my god, Brittany." She moaned as Brittany's lips inched closer and closer to where her fingers were working magic. "Please," she moaned.

Brittany removed her fingers and replaced them with her mouth, getting an instant gasp from Anna as she started to give head to the brunette. "Mmm, you taste really good, baby," Brittany mumbled.

All Anna could do to respond as Britt went down on her was moan, grabbing Britt's hair and moaning loudly. She didn't care if people heard her, she was experiencing the most amazing and pleasurable feeling in the world. Sex. It wasn't even the fact that it felt so good that made it amazing, it was how connected Anna felt to Brittany that made it incredible. Anna spread her legs wider for Brittany's mouth to get full access as she moaned in absolute pleasure. "Mmmm, Brittany." She moaned.

"This feels amazing, doesn't it?" Brittany said to Anna, smiling at the brunette's reactions. She knew that Anna was thoroughly enjoying this, so the blonde started to go faster and harder to maximize her pleasure.

"It's so amazi-" Anna gasped before she could finish her sentence once Britt picked up the speed of her thrusts and strokes. "You're so hot! F-fuck!"

Brittany continued to pleasure Anna, feeling the brunette's walls begin to clench up. "You're so tense, babe. Just relax and let go for me."

"Brittany!" Anna screamed, grabbing and pulling at the blonde girl's hair as she hit her climax. "Fuck!" She moaned, riding out her orgasm moaning Britt's name constantly.

Brittany trailed her lips back up Anna's body once more before pecking her lips gently. "How was that for your first time?" She murmured to the brunette.

The young brunette was still catching her breath, whimpering when Brittany's lips ghosted across hers. Her chest heaved as she wiped some sweat off of her forehead. "Britt, it was amazing. It was better than anything I'd ever imagined." She whispered before pulling her girlfriend down for another kiss.

Anna smiled, loving how Britt's lips tasted like her; she ran her hands up and down Brittany's bare back smoothly as their naked bodies were flush against each other.

After a moment of post sex makeout session, Anna pulled back. "I know soon we'll have to get up for dinner, but can we maybe just get under the covers and snuggle?" She asked.

"Of course, I'd love that." Britt said, getting off of Anna's body before they pulled themselves under the covers.

As they were laying under the covers, holding each other close and admiring each others eyes, Anna spoke up. "Thank you for that, it was incredible." She whispered. "I love you and you made my first time memorable in the best way possible."

Brittany smiled back at Anna. "I love you too. I'm glad that I made your first time memorable," she whispered, leaning in and brushing her lips against Anna's.

Anna smiled softly when Brittany's lip ghosted over her own; she then closed her eyes and pulled Brittany close, drifting off into a sweet little sleep with Brittany curdled in her arms. And in that moment, there was no place on earth that she'd rather be.

 **ANNA IS NO LONGER A VIRGIN! Can't be mad at that! And Josh is rescued! What shall ever happen next? I guess we'll just have to wait and see! We hope you guys are enjoying the story so far!**

 **Until Next Time,**

 **Elle and Gabi**


	16. Chapter 15: Back To Chicago

Chapter 15: Back to Chicago

Anna slowly opened her eyes, turning over and watching the slow rising and falling of Brittany's chest. She leaned over and kissed the blonde's cheek softly, moving closer to her and wrapping her arms around her waist. They had been cuddling for the last hour or so, barely speaking at all. "Hey," Anna whispered, breaking the long silence that had grown between them.

Brittany began to stretch a little before opening her eyes to Anna gazing upon her. "Hey, beautiful." She whispered with a gentle smile when she noticed that Anna was covering her body up a little with the covers. "How are you?" She asked in a tired tone.

"I'm great. How are you?" Anna murmured back, smiling softly at how cute Brittany sounded when she was tired.

"Wonderful," Brittany said while she stretched. "You wore me out babe, I haven't felt this amazing in a long time."

"I've never felt this amazing," Anna replied, watching Brittany stretch. "I could get used to feeling this amazing, though," she added.

"I know I could get used to this." The blonde girl whispered, smiling tiredly up at her girlfriend. Brittany reached up and ran the back of her hand along Anna's arm, smiling to herself in a loving way.

Anna closed her eyes and sighed happily as Brittany's fingers ran over her skin. "Yeah, me too," she whispered, breathing in and out slowly and peacefully.

"How was it for you?" Brittany asked. "I know I've asked this already but I just wanted to be sure." She said, turning to lay on her side and look at Anna. "I just wanted to make sure it was good enough for you."

Anna reopened her eyes, gazing into Brittany's. "It was more than enough, babe. It was perfect. I'll never be able to thank you enough," she murmured back to her girlfriend, leaning in and kissing her lips softly.

"You being mine and loving me is thanks enough," Brittany murmured once their lips parted. "I've never felt this way about someone before." She added with a small smile tugging at her cheeks. "Not even Hadley."

"Not even Hadley?" Anna repeated back to Brittany, still gazing into the blonde's blue eyes.

"No, not even Hadley," Brittany said again when Anna's midnight blue eyes didn't leave hers. "I never thought that I would find someone ever again after Hadley, but Anna…" She paused and bit her lip, smiling down at the bed for a moment before looking back at Anna. "You came into my life and changed everything, there's no comparison or competition. The feelings I feel for you are beyond anything I felt for Hadley."

Anna smiled at Brittany's words and leaned in, pressing their foreheads together. "I've never loved anyone else like I love you," the brunette said, "and I never will love anyone else like I love you." Brittany closed her eyes and just held their bodies close together. She kept smoothly running hands up and down Anna's arm.

"I love you, Anna." Brittany whispered. "Always."

"Always," Anna repeated, smiling to herself as Brittany's hands continued to run up and down her arms. "I could lay here forever with you and not need anything else." She whispered before closing her eyes as well as they continued to cuddle and keep warm as they lay in bed naked under the covers.

After a short silence there was an announcement over the intercom. "Everyone meet in the mess hall. Repeat, everyone meet in the mess hall. You have ten minutes."

Anna groaned at the announcement, closing her eyes for a few moments before sitting up. "I wonder what they want now," she grumbled as she started to gather up her clothes and get dressed.

"Hopefully it's some good news for a change." Brittany stated with a groan as she got out of bed and started to put her clothes back on. Then she braided her hair and put her shoes on. "Come on, let's go see what they want."

Anna nodded, brushing her hair quickly before she followed Brittany out of the room and to the mess hall. The two were some of the last to arrive there, as almost all the seats were filled. Anna and Brittany managed to find a couple seats in the back of the hall right before Terry and Greg began to speak.

Once the crowd was quiet, Greg stepped forward and began to speak. "We have received intelligence that the Healers in Chicago are planning to execute all its prisoners at the internment camp in the middle of the city. This is our chance to strike their base and liberate the camp." He said before Terry stepped forward.

"We have decided to put two teams together, one to liberate the camp while the other team takes out the base." Terry started. "It's a long shot, but if we don't make a statement now then it may be months before our next chance comes around. We will be taking two teams of twelve people. And we have them picked out on a list that we made as soon as we got this information."

"On Team Campers, we have: Skylar Astin, Josh Kendrick, Gemma Winters, Malia Gregson, Omar Avalon, Stephanie Harlem, Ragsdale Camp, Meleike Nathanson, Katie Van Pelt, Henry Adams, Quentin Anderson and Justin Wheeler." Greg called out.

"On Team Rampage: Anna Kendrick, Brittany Snow, Samantha Winters, Ester Dean, Johnny Egert, Hunter Mansfield, Patrick Underhill, Susie James, Beatrice Hummer, Natalie Wheeler, Dylan Timmons, Carlos Gonzalez, and Pierre Sinclair." Terry called out. "These are the teams. Everyone whose name was called come forward."

Anna and Brittany looked at each other before they both stood up and walked to the front of the room, standing in front of the crowd. The teams stood with each other, waiting for further instruction from Greg.

"You all will follow Terry and I into the arms and ammunition room, the rest of you are dismissed." Greg said before gesturing for the hall to clear. "Godspeed."

While everyone else slowly made their way out of the hall, Anna looked over to Josh, who was standing with his group. She then turned to her uncle. "Are you sure that Josh is ready to go out on another mission? I mean, he just got rescued. Surely he needs some more time to recover," the brunette said.

"Josh won't be involved in any actual combat, he's agreed to be our eye in the sky." Greg said smiling at his niece. "Don't worry, we'll have him placed where he'll be safe from any sort of combat or danger."

Anna nodded, still worried for her brother even though she knew that they would be taking precautions to keep him and everyone else on the mission safe. "Alright, we should probably start getting ready to go now, huh?"

"Yes, we'll send everyone to go get ready and then meet in the main hanger bay." Greg said before he placed a hand on her shoulder. "We will take care of Josh, Anna. So don't worry about it too much, alright." When Anna nodded once again, he smiled. "Alright, now go get ready."

Anna smiled at her uncle and then went to her room to pack up some of her things before going back to the main hangar bay to meet everyone else. The brunette packed a few extra shirts and other clothing items along with her pistol and her hunting knife, not wanting to bring too many things because that would slow them down.

A knock came at the door. "Hey sis, can I come in?" Josh's voice called from outside the door.

"Yeah, come on in." Anna answered.

"How are you?" He said smiling once he came in.

Anna shrugged her shoulders as she looked through her backpack to make sure that she had everything she would need for the upcoming mission. "I'm alright. I'm a bit nervous, but I'll be fine," she replied.

Josh walked up beside her and wrapped his arm around her shoulder. "You're always going to be fine." He said giving her a side hug. "Besides, if I had just lost my virginity, I'd be doing quite well." He said, snickering when his sister turned red in the cheeks.

"How did you know?" Anna snapped in embarrassed tone.

"These walls are pretty thin, sis." Josh said chuckling. Those words made Anna's face turn even redder, causing Josh to laugh even harder at how embarrassed hs younger sister was. "Relax, Anna. It's not like the entire base heard. Unless they did, but I highly doubt that."

"That's not making me feel any less embarrassed." Anna said, nudging her brother in the stomach gently.

"Well from the sounds of things, Britt seemed like she rocked your world." Josh chuckled. "Plus, think about it. Now you can have it whenever you want and it actually means something. I lost my virginity to a girl who would've told the Healers where we were if I didn't sleep with her." He said sighing before chuckling. "I've never really had something as meaningful as what you have with Britt, you shouldn't be embarrassed."

"The fact that you heard us is still embarrassing, though, especially since we were trying to be quiet," Anna said to her brother, looking down at the floor.

"When you lose your virginity, you're not quiet. You'll learn to be more stealthy and sneaky with practice. But, don't worry. I just hope it was special for you." Josh said patting her on her shoulder.

Anna nodded. "Yeah, it was pretty special. It was definitely something that I'll remember for the rest of my life," she said with a smile. She grabbed her backpack and slung it around her shoulder. "We should head to the hangar bay now. We don't want to be late."

"Sounds good." Josh said, slinging his bag over shoulder. "So, was Britt pretty good?" He teased.

Anna rolled her eyes at her brother with a chuckle. "Yes, she was. Now let's stop talking about my love life and focus on this mission," she said as they walked side by side down the hallway.

Josh laughed for a moment before shutting up as they walked together to the hangar bay. Once they were there, they saw the rest of their little group standing together, including their new friend Sam and her sister Gemma. Josh stopped in his tracks when he caught sight of Gemma. "Woah, who's that?"

Anna followed her brother's gaze over to Gemma. "Oh, her? That's Sam's sister, Gemma," she replied. She noticed her brother's gaze hadn't left Gemma. "Dude, stop staring. It's creepy," she said with a laugh.

"Huh, what?" Josh said before shaking his head and getting out of his little daze. "Sorry, she's just…Wow, she's just really beautiful." He said as they continued to walk.

"It looks like she's in your group, too. Keep it in your pants, will you? We don't need any unnecessary distractions or drama," Anna said jokingly to Josh.

"Well I'm going to be away from everyone else anyways so chill out. I'm not going to do anything stupid." He said right at they walked up to their group of friends so Anna could introduce Josh to Sam and Gemma.

"Hey everyone," Anna said with a smile and a little wave as she and Josh came and joined the group. "Some of you already know him, but in case you don't, this is my older brother Josh."

Sam and Gemma smiled at him. "Nice to meet you Josh, it's good to hear that you got back safely, Anna was pretty worried about you." Gemma said walking over and shaking Josh's hand.

Josh blushed as soon as he felt Gemma's hand touch his. "N-nice to meet you too," he stuttered, feeling his face heat up as Anna snickered behind him. "So you and I are on the same team, right?"

"Yeah we are, and I look forward to getting to know you on the way to Chicago." Gemma said offering a nice and friendly smile Josh's way.

"Yeah, me too," Josh said, smiling back at Gemma. "Greg told me that I'm going to be the 'eyes from the sky' for most of the time, just so that I don't get injured again."

"Or captured again." Anna murmured under her breath.

"Shhhh," Josh said before turning back to Gemma. "I'll make sure you and the rest of our group is successful."

Gemma smiled, seemingly satisfied with Josh's words. "Well that's good, because we can't afford to mess this up," she replied, everyone else nodding in agreement with her.

"You can count on me, I wouldn't want to happen to you guys on my account." Josh said.

"Enough flirting," Anna said with a laugh and a playful glare towards Josh. "We're on a schedule."

Josh rolled his eyes. "We weren't flirting, but whatever," he said, laughing along with his sister.

Anna walked over to her brother. "Stay safe okay? I can't lose you again." She said before giving him a tight hug.

Josh embraced his sister, rocking her back and forth in his arms slowly. "Don't worry about me. I'm going to be fine. You're not gonna lose me again, sis. I promise you that," he said.

"Just come back to me, that's all I'm asking." She said as they broke their embrace and he kissed the top of her head.

"I will Anna, I promise." Josh said before joining the other members of his group and getting on the plane.

Britt walked up and placed her arm around Anna's shoulder. "He'll be alright, babe." She said, holding her close.

"I know he will," Anna said, watching as Josh and the others got on the plane. "I'm just worried about him, you know? I can't help it. I almost lost him once and I don't want that to happen."

"I completely understand. I was the same way that night at the pier in Seattle when you went to go find Josh and Skylar." Britt said as they got on the plane for their group and sat down in a seat hand in hand.

"I know deep down that he's going to be okay, but I just can't help but worry about him," Anna said, running her free hand through her hair with a sigh. Britt placed her hand on Anna's thigh. She then turned Anna's head to face her and kissed her softly, just for simple reassurance that everything would be okay.

Anna kissed Brittany back, her lips lingering on the blonde's for a few extra moments before she pulled away. The plane began to shake and Anna looked out the window, seeing that they were going to be taking off any second now. "I just hope that this mission goes like planned," she said softly.

"It will," Britt whispered. She squeezed Anna's hand a few times softly. "I'll be right here the whole time baby."

Anna looked down at their hands and smiled. "I know you will," she said, looking back up at Brittany. "You're always here for me when I need you."

"We're always here for each other baby." Britt whispered. "Even when we're apart, I can feel you with me."

"I'm always going to be with you, babe. Always," Anna whispered back. "No matter how far apart we are, I'll always be with you."

Just then after their moment, Sam sat down next to them on Anna's side. "Hey guys, you ready?" She asked.

Anna shrugged. "I guess so. I mean, we don't really have a choice. We have to be ready for this, or else the whole mission goes badly," she replied.

"We've been through a lot together." Brittany said. "I think we can handle this." She said, looking at Sam before setting her jaw a little bit. She was still a little on the fence about Sam. It was obvious the girl constantly flirted with Anna even though she had said to Brittany that she wouldn't do it again.

Sam nodded. "I think we'll be able to handle this too. We have a lot of strong people in the group, so that will be a big help. Plus, you and Anna have experience fighting the Healers, so that will also give us an edge," she said to Brittany.

Anna noticed the tension Brittany was showing towards Sam so she squeezed her hand softly. "Yeah, that may help, wrecking their plans has definitely been our specialty." She said before leaning over and kissing Britt's cheek.

Sam looked down towards the floor, sensing that Brittany was uncomfortable with her being around. "Well, I'll go back to my seat and give you two some privacy," she said awkwardly.

"No, stay its fine." Anna said. "You can stay." She said trying to be nice.

"I'm fine, I'll go back. I have to talk to Terry anyways." Sam answered before standing up.

Brittany sighed with relief when Sam stood up and walked away. Anna heard this and turned to the blonde with a look of confusion on her face. "What was that about?" She asked.

"I'm not really her biggest fan, she constantly flirts with you and she hasn't stopped doing it since she met you." Brittany stated setting her jaw a little when she saw Sam sit down next to Terry before turning back to face Anna.

"I can ask her to stop flirting with me if you'd like. I mean, I haven't really noticed it for a while, but I don't want you to be worried or anything," Anna replied, taking Brittany's hand in hers.

"Asking her to stop isn't going to do any good." Brittany mentioned, still eyeing Sam. "You may not see her flirting but I do. You always notice when someone is flirting with your significant other, if someone was flirting with me you'd notice. And it's not a good feeling; because even the slightest thought of that special person of yours leaving you for someone else, it scares me." Brittany looked down at her hand linked in Anna's. "It scares me a lot."

"I'm not gonna leave you, Britt," Anna said, lifting the blonde's chin up with her finger so they could look into each other's eyes. "I'm not going to leave you, and I'm certainly not going to leave you for someone else. I'd never, ever do that to you, okay?" The brunette said in a gentle voice.

Brittany nodded, leaning her forehead against Anna's before looking down at their linked fingers. "I believe you, I just don't trust Sam when it comes to you. I'm afraid she's going to try and make a move on you."

"If she does try to make a move on me when you're not around, I'll let you know. I don't want to lose our relationship because of someone else," Anna replied.

"Thank you," Brittany said, squeezing her hand. "I know that you're not going anywhere, it's just wasn't fun when I saw her holding your hand that time when we were arguing. And she hasn't stopped flirting since."

Anna nodded. "Well, I'll make sure to keep an eye out for that," she said, leaning in and kissing Brittany's cheek.

"I'm sorry, I know that we have bigger things to worry about apart from my thoughts about Sam." Brittany mentioned, running her hands through her hair stressfully.

"No, don't apologize. You have every right to not trust her, and I understand that," Anna said, looking into Brittany's eyes. "Whatever I can do to help you not be as stressed, let me know."

"You can prove to me that she has no chance of ever stealing you away from me." Brittany said looking deeply into the brunettes eyes that were navy like the midnight sky.

"And how can I do that? What can I do to prove to you that she's not going to take me away from you?" Anna asked Brittany.

"I'm still figuring that part out, but for now you can start by kissing me passionately in front of everyone right now." Brittany whispered, smiling at Anna deviously.

Anna bit her lip, looking around before turning back to Brittany. "Right now?" She said, a bit nervous because she didn't want to bring all the attention to them.

"Yes, it proves you don't care what people think of us being together." Brittany said, knowing it was a lot to put on Anna's shoulders but also knowing Anna had asked how she could prove her love. "You don't have to do it," she said looking down. "It was just a suggestion."

There was a moment of silence between them, Britt was the first to speak up again after that short break of verbal conversation. "I'm gonna go see how close we are to Chicago," she said, smiling shortly before standing up and walking over to where Terry was. Anna watched Brittany walk away, feeling a pang of guilt hit her. She wanted to prove to Brittany that she truly loved her, but something was holding her back. The brunette sighed and ran her fingers through her hair, thinking of what to say when the blonde returned.

Brittany spent about ten minutes talking to Terry, and in that time she asked how far from Chicago they were and what the plan was once they got there. She then went over and sat next to Anna again. "We should be there within the next hour." She stated before looking at her hands awkwardly.

Anna nodded, looking down and shuffling her feet. "I want to prove my love to you, Brittany, but I've never been someone who's really been comfortable with public displays of affection and things like that. I didn't mean to upset you earlier, I just got nervous and I was scared that I was going to mess up somehow," she said quietly.

"I'm not upset with you, I know you're private. That's why I asked you to do that, to see if you could step outside your comfort zone. If you can't do that just yet it's okay." Brittany said, looking at Anna for a moment. "We've only been together a few weeks, I don't expect you to do something like that." She said before leaning her head back against the seat cushion.

Anna nodded, taking Britt's hand in hers. "I'm sure that I'll be more comfortable at some point, I'm just not at that point yet. Thank you for being so understanding, though. It means a lot to me."

"Yeah," Britt said. Though she was understanding, she was still a little disappointed that Anna didn't do it. It wasn't like it was such a difficult task, was it? Brittany just sat there and looked at hers and Anna's hand for a moment before closing her eyes and waiting for the plane to land.

An hour passed surprisingly quickly, and the plane started to make its descent towards Chicago. Anna and Brittany had fallen asleep, but were woken up by the plane shaking back and forth because of turbulence. Anna rubbed her eyes and yawned a little bit as she woke up. "Are we in Chicago?" She asked tiredly.

"Everyone, get ready we are landing about five miles from the base. That makes it so they don't have us on their radar. We can have a more sneaky approach." Terry stated looking at everyone. "Grab the weapons and protection we have placed at your seats, we have a long mission ahead of us."

Everyone followed Terry's orders, looking underneath their seats and grabbing their weapons and protective clothing that they would need for the mission. Anna made sure that her gun was loaded and that she had enough ammo before turning to Brittany. "Here's some extra ammo. I have enough already, so I want you to have it."

"Thanks," Britt said smiling at her simply before putting the extra ammo in her bulletproof jacket pocket.

"Alright everyone, there are small motorcycles waiting outside for you. Two to a bike, travel a mile at a time. We don't want to cause any suspicious noises as we get closer. It's going to be awhile before we reach base."

Brittany walked outside and sat in the front of the motorcycle. "You coming?" she said turning to Anna.

Anna nodded, walking over to the motorcycle and sitting down on the seat in the back. "Have you ever driven one of these things before?" Anna asked.

"When I escaped from the camp in Tampa the first time, I used one of these to get far away." Britt said. "I traveled on it for a long time, until it broke down and wouldn't start one day." She then turned it on and waited for it to get warm. "Hold onto me, okay?"

Anna wrapped her arms around Brittany's waist and held on tightly. "I've never been on a motorcycle before, so this should be an experience," she said.

"I won't go too fast." Britt said before got both feet off the ground and onto the bike before it started moving. She gripped the handle bars loosely but kept them going at a smooth pace for the first mile.

As the ride went on, Anna felt herself begin to relax and get used to the feeling of being on a motorcycle. "This isn't so bad after all," she said, the trees and their other surroundings passing by in a blur even though they weren't going that fast.

Once they made it to the first checkpoint, everyone listened to Terry say what their plan was. They had a bunch of bombs to be planted in the center of the base. "You guys should go off in pairs, at most groups of three. We want to be as stealthy with this mission as possible. If we blow our cover, then the mission fails. Got it?" Terry said. Everyone nodded their heads. "Good. Now let's go blow up this base. The next rendezvous point is in two miles, I'll see you guys there."

Britt got onto her motorcycle and waited for Anna to hop on before she revved up the engine. She then started it up and drove towards the next checkpoint. The drive was silent as both girls were focusing on the task ahead of them. As they neared the checkpoint, Anna broke the silence. "Be careful out there, okay? I mean, I know that you can take care of yourself and all, but please be careful."

"I will be, don't worry." Britt said calmly as she came to a stop. She had been chosen to go in by Terry to place the bombs. So she had all the devices with her. "I'm going to make it out of there safe and sound, I promise." She said, turning back to face Anna.

Anna nodded. "Okay, but you better get out of there safely," the brunette said, taking Brittany's hand in hers. "I can't lose you, Britt. I just can't."

"You won't, we said 'always.'" Brittany said, looking at Anna. "And I don't plan on breaking that." She whispered before kissing Anna's cheek.

Anna pulled Brittany back in for a short but sweet kiss on the lips. "I believe you," she murmured when their lips parted. "Good luck out there, babe."

"Thanks Anna," Brittany said. "You stay safe too, okay?" She squeezed Anna's hand and then said. "I love you," before letting the brunette off of the bike. "I'll see you soon, alright?"

Anna nodded, letting go of Brittany's hand before the blonde drove away on the motorcycle. Anna watched her until the motorcycle was out of her sight, and then she walked over to the checkpoint where Terry and the others were waiting for her.

"You have a very brave girlfriend," Terry said to her niece as Anna made her way to them. "The job I've given her is not for the faint hearted." Anna nodded. "She'll be able to get the job done. I know she will. I'm worried for her, but I know that she'll be okay," Anna said.

"I know you were hesitant for me to pick her for this job. But I felt it was safer for one to set up the bombs up while we all keep the guards distracted." Terry said.

"I understand why you'd want this to be the plan. It's very clever. The Healers are smart, but we've outsmarted them many times and we'll do it again today. I just hope that everything goes as planned with the distraction," Anna said to Terry.

"We will make sure she gets in and out of there safely." Terry said smiling at Anna. "You two seem very inseparable."

Anna smiled a little bit at Terry's words. "We've been through so much together. Sure, we haven't known each other all that long, but it feels like forever. I guess that's why I get so worried and stressed out about these missions. I don't know what I'd do if I lost her."

"I believe she'll make it back. I wouldn't have sent her if she wasn't capable." Terry said.

Anna nodded. She looked over her shoulder at the other members of their group, who were talking amongst themselves. "How long do you think we should wait before we advance to the base?" The brunette asked, turning back to face her aunt.

"Once we get the signal from Brittany." Terry said smiling. "She has a flare gun that she shoots, which will signal us to head over while she gets inside and does her job."

The wait for the signal from Brittany was agonizing. To Anna, it seemed like every minute was an hour, and each minute that passed was another minute that Anna spent worrying about whether or not Brittany got into the base safely. The brunette started to pace back and forth, which didn't go unnoticed by her aunt. "I'm sure we'll get the signal any second, Anna," she said in a kind, understanding voice.

Just then a flare went up, Brittany's flare. "There it is, we need to roll out now!" Terry called out. Everyone getting on their motorcycles, Anna got on one with her aunt. "Lets go!"

The motorcycles began to fan out as they approached the base so that they could take the soldiers by surprise and have multiple angles on them. Anna and Terry went through the woods, driving slowly once they caught sight of the base. "There it is," Anna said to Terry, who nodded and slowed the motorcycle to a stop.

The two took cover behind a fallen tree and observed the surroundings. From what Anna could see, there were multiple guards on the roof of the base, as well as guards on the ground. "We're going to need every bullet to take these guys down," she murmured softly.

"Your girlfriend certainly drew a crowd, which means there aren't many inside that she needs to worry about." Terry said smiling before loading her gun. "You ready?" She said turning to her niece.

Anna nodded. "I'm ready." The brunette loaded her gun and aimed for the nearest soldier. She looked to Terry, who nodded back at her. The brunette took a deep breath, steadily holding the gun as she pulled the trigger. Her shot was so accurate and deadly that it went through one soldier into another, both of them falling down dead at the same time.

"Impressive Anna," Terry said before hitting one soldier right in the heart.

"Thanks," Anna said, already reloading her gun. The other members of the group had started firing, and a gunshot rang out in the air almost every second. Once her gun was reloaded, the brunette stood up and aimed for another soldier, hitting him in the chest and sending him flying to the ground.

While all of this was going on, Britt had made it inside and was starting to set up the bombs. She kept on her guard to make sure no Healers were sneaking up on her. She heard someone and held a knife up while setting up a bomb. Britt then turned a corner, hearing more chatter. She saw two Healers and instantly took them out silently with her throwing knives.

Outside the base, the element of surprise that Anna and the rebels had was starting to wear out. They took out the initial guards, but more and more were beginning to pour out from the inside of the base. "More are coming!" She called out to Terry, who ducked behind a tree just in time to avoid an oncoming bullet. Jumping out from behind the tree, Terry immediately shot and killed the soldier that had shot at her.

"We need to move forward! We can't keep giving up ground!" Terry shouted above the chaos of the battle.

"We need to bring out the big guns, otherwise we were going to run out of ammo and we can only last so long!" Sam yelled as they advanced. Terry gave her the go and then Sam and Ester pulled out the big machine gun and shot a few rounds.

Anna looked over, seeing that Sam and Ester were using the machine gun. Since it was a much larger weapon, the soldiers' focus turned to Sam and Ester, leaving only a few soldiers left by the entrance to the base. Anna grabbed her gun and ran towards the entrance while the others were distracted. As she was running, she felt a twinge of pain in her leg, and she looked down, seeing blood welling up near her lower calf. "Shit, I've been hit," she muttered, dropping to the ground to take cover.

Terry rushed to Anna and grabbed into her bag. "Everyone cover us!" She yelled back. "This may hurt, but I need to trust me okay?" She said as she took out some tweezers. Anna winced loudly in pain as Terry pulled a small bullet out of her leg and threw it away.

"Fuck that hurts!" Anna groaned, holding her leg. Terry wrapped it in gauzes before tying her jacket around it to put pressure on it. "Son of a bitch, why does shit like this always happen to me?" Anna muttered, holding her leg and gritting her teeth. The brunette tried to stand up, only to fall back down to the ground.

"Anna, no. You can't put any weight on your leg. You'll just have to stay here while the rest of us finish this," Terry said to her niece.

"Fine, then go! The longer you stay here with me, the greater the chance that you get hit. I have some ammo with me, so I'll be fine," Anna replied.

"We will make sure they don't get close to you," Terry said patting Anna's shoulder before standing up and heading into the battle.

Brittany was placing the last bomb in the center of the base when she heard two more Healers talking about Heinrick. "They say he's going execute James and Joan Kendrick if the attacks on bases and camp keep happening."

"Those Kendrick kids are the main cause of these, we take out their parents, we could end their rebellion." The other said. Brittany stood there in shock and and took out the silencer and put it on the gun before shooting the two men. What she didn't notice was there were ten more men around the corner that heard the two guys drop to the floor.

Outside, Anna was helping the group in any way she could. Currently, she was using the ammo that she had left to pick off the remaining Healers one by one to make it easier for her aunt and the others. She couldn't do much, as she didn't want to get more hurt than she already was, but sitting there while everyone else fought was not an option.

Brittany started running from the men and hiding in closet nearby. She then radioed Terry. "I have to blow this place now, otherwise more soldier will come and get me."

"What? No! We will send someone in to get you out!" Terry called through the radio.

The blonde girl looked out of the closet in a peek to make sure the coast was clear before she started to make her way. "I have to set it off now, or it may not work. I'll try and make it back but—if I don't see Anna again, tell her I love her." Brittany said before she began running towards the exit as fast as she could, having to take out a few Healers as she did so.

Terry was about to radio in to Brittany again when the line crackled and went dead. There was an eerie silence as everyone looked up from what they were doing upon hearing a loud booming sound. It took a couple seconds before anyone realized what was happening. "We have to move! Now!"

The chaos resumed as the base started to explode from within. Instead of fighting, both sides were running for cover in the forest. Anna was trying as hard as she could, but her wounded leg didn't let her get very far. She managed to make it to the edge of the woods just as the final bomb went off, sending up a cloud of smoke as stone and shrapnel flew everywhere.

Terry looked back once everyone had made it back to the edge of the woods. Waiting for the smoke to clear, she silently prayed that Brittany was headed their way, but a sick feeling in her gut told her otherwise.

"Where is Brittany?" Anna said, limping over to her aunt. "You said she would be out here when the explosion happened! You said she would be safe!" Terry was at a loss for words, not knowing what to say to Anna. "She shouldn't have been the one to go inside!" Anna screamed as hot tears filled her eyes.

Just then as smoke began to clear, they heard a motorcycle headed their way. They looked at the explosion site and saw something that nearly made all of them gasp in disbelief.

There was Brittany, riding her motorcycle, some scratches and bruises on her face. She made to them and stepped off the motorcycle. "Hey guys," she said before coughing a little bit from being in the smoke of the explosion for so long.

When she saw the blonde, Anna immediately stood up and started to walk over towards her as fast as she could. Brittany noticed that the brunette was limping, so she started to walk towards her so she didn't have to walk as far. They met halfway and Anna wrapped her arms around Brittany tightly, never wanting to let go. "God damnit, Britt, you scared me so badly," Anna said, tears falling down her face.

Brittany just stood there holding Anna, tightly as she held her close. "We said 'always,' I wasn't going to change our plans." She whispered, before holding Anna close to her. She then looked down at Anna's leg. "Oh my god you were hit, are you okay?" She said looking back up at Anna.

The brunette nodded. "Yeah, I should be fine. Terry managed to get the bullet out and it hasn't been bleeding as badly, so that's good. I should probably get it checked out when we get back, just in case," Anna replied. She looked into Brittany's eyes. "God, I almost you," she muttered, leaning in and connecting her lips with Brittany's in a sweet kiss.

At first Brittany was surprised at this action Anna had just taken, considering not three hours ago she said she wasn't big on PDA. But Brittany just wrapped her one arm around Anna's waist with one on her cheek. The kiss got a little deeper for a moment as the crowd of people let them have their moment.

When Anna finally pulled back, Brittany smiled softly. "I love you, Anna. I love you more than anything in this world."

Anna smiled back and leaned their foreheads together. "I love you too, Brittany. I'll always love you more than anything," she whispered back.

The couple shared one more kiss before they turned around and joined the rest of the group. "You're very brave for doing what you did, Brittany. I'm proud of you," Terry said to the blonde with a smile.

"Thank you," Brittany said as she helped Anna walk over. "Though I heard something when I was in there." She paused and looked at Anna before turning to Terry again. "If they find out about this and the camp liberation, they're going to kill Joan and James Kendrick."

"When did you hear this?" Terry asked, a concerned look on her face.

"Inside the base. Two of them were talking about it as she set some of the bombs up." Brittany said. "If there are any Healers that are still alive from the explosion we have to either capture them or kill them, because if even one of them survives, they can get word out to Heinrick and he will kill Anna and Josh's parents and your sister and your brother in law."

All the color left Anna's face, and she gulped nervously. "Well then, we have to make sure that none of the Healers escaped. We can't let Heinrick kill my parents. Josh and I haven't come this far to have them die now," the brunette said quietly.

"I'll contact Greg and the Camp team to inform them of this." Terry said before taking out her radio. "You all split into two groups of six and go check the wreckage and the woods." She ordered. Everyone nodded and they broke into two groups, Brittany and Anna were in the same one together and headed towards the woods to investigate and look for any Healers.

While they were walking, Anna felt a sudden pain in her leg. "Ow! Shit!" She yelled out, grabbing at her leg and slowly sitting down on the ground. She untied the jacket that Terry had put around it, seeing that the wound had started to bleed heavily again. "Fuck," she muttered.

"Does someone have some gauze and tape?" Brittany asked, getting down and putting pressure on the wound with her hand.

"I do," Sam answered coming over and handing Brittany the gauze and the tape.

"I need you to put pressure on this while I get the tape and gauze out." Brittany told Sam, who did what she demanded and put pressure against Anna's gunshot wound. Brittany wiped some of the blood off her hands and onto her shirt before ripping the package with the gauze open. She placed about six layers of thick gauze on the wound before wrapping it tightly but not to tight to cut off all circulation. "Anna, I need to take you back to the plane. You can't keep looking for Healers with this wound. You could bleed out." Brittany said helping Anna stand up. "Sam, I'm going to take Anna back to the plane so you're in charge of this group, find any Healers and get rid of them. We can't risk any of them getting the news about this to Heinrick."

Sam nodded. "Do you need any help getting her to the plane?" She asked Brittany, who was already helping Anna up to her feet.

Anna shook her head. "We'll be fine, but thanks for offering," she replied, putting her arm around Brittany's shoulder and leaning on the blonde for support as they slowly started to walk.

Britt made her way to way to a motorcycle with Anna on her arm. She then helped the brunette onto the motorcycle and took off with Anna holding onto her waist. They were at the plane within ten minutes and Brittany helped Anna onto the plane before getting motorcycle on as well.

The blonde then went to the med kit and got out supplies for Anna's wound. "Do you trust me enough to let me stitch that up? If I don't you'll bleed out and I don't know how long it will be till everyone gets back and we get out of here."

Anna nodded. "Just try not to make it hurt please?" She said softly, watching as Brittany took out the supplies from the med kit and set them down on the seat next to her.

"I'll do my best, but I can't promise it won't hurt." Brittany said, taking out a needle and some thread. She then put some numbing alcohol on Anna's leg and letting it sit for a moment, then began to stitch up Anna's leg. Surprisingly Brittany was pretty good at this and Anna didn't feel a ton of pain.

After the wound was completely stitched up, Anna breathed a sigh of relief and relaxed back in her seat. "Thank you for doing all this for me. I really appreciate it."

Brittany wrapped up the wound and held her leg while she did so, making sure it didn't bleed anymore whatsoever. "You would've done the same for me." She said, wiping the blood from her hands.

Anna smiled once her wound was all wrapped up. "I really mean it, Britt. Thank you. This means a lot to me," the brunette said to her.

"You mean a lot to me." Brittany said before leaning in and kissing Anna's lips. She winced a little bit when Anna pulled her closer by her waist.

Anna noticed this and broke the kiss, pulling away from Brittany with a look of concern on her face. "Is everything okay?" She asked the blonde.

"I got pretty beat up back there." Britt said, raising her shirt up so Anna could see the bruises and contusions on her body. "These Healers were better trained than the ones we've face before. I took a couple hard hits, not to mention the explosion blew me back one hundred feet to land on some rocks." She chuckled a little bit before wincing in pain again.

Anna frowned while looking at all the bruises on Brittany's body. "I shouldn't have let you go in there," she murmured softly, looking down. "They could've sent someone else and you wouldn't have gotten hurt."

"I had just as much of a chance getting hurt with you guys outside the base as I did going in to set up the bombs." Britt said, lifting Anna's head up with her fingers so they were face to face. "Besides, I volunteered to go set up the bombs, I went to Terry and told her I'd do it before you and your brother got there. I knew what I was getting myself into."

"I just didn't want you to get hurt, and you did. That's why I feel so bad. I feel like I could've done something to stop this. You could have died today, Britt. You could've died and I don't know what I would've done if that happened," Anna said.

Britt took Anna's hands in her own, looking at them linked so perfectly together before looking at Anna. "It wasn't easy for me to do that, but nobody knows the Healers like I do. And I knew the weaknesses within. It killed me when I left you to go inside on that motorcycle, I cried a little because I was scared you were going to get shot and killed." She said, leaning their foreheads together. "But these are the risks we're going to have to take if we're going to defeat Heinrick and his Healers."

Anna nodded, closing her eyes for a few moments. "Do you think that we'll be able to save my parents and take down Heinrick?" She asked.

"I pray every night that we will do both of those things." Brittany said rubbing the back of one of Anna's hands with her thumb. "But I think it's been proved, especially today that it's not going to be easy."

"None of it is going to be easy. I just hope that we save my parents before it's too late. The only way that we'll find them is if we keep hitting bases and camps, but if Heinrick finds out then he'll kill them," Anna said.

"We are going to save them, and we're going to end that devil's reign of terror on this world." Brittany said, smiling at Anna before kissing her gently.

Anna smiled and leaned into the kiss, lingering on Brittany's lips for a few extra moments before pulling away to catch her breath. "I love you so much."

"I love you too," Brittany whispered. "You're so beautiful." She said when Anna kissed her again. "Even after a battle like that, you still look absolutely flawless."

"I can say the same about you," Anna mumbled against Brittany's lips. "You always look flawless no matter what."

After the kiss, Britt smiled. "Here, let me wash the blood off of you." She whispered with her hot breath against Anna's lips.

"Do you need me to wrap some of your wounds?" Anna asked, concerned.

Brittany shook her head. "I'll be fine. I'll have the doctors at the med bay look at them when we get back," the blonde replied.

Anna took Britt by the wrist, and turned her around. "You have cuts all over your body and you've been bleeding, let me do this for you. It's the only way I'll be able to forgive myself for letting you go inside that hellhole alone." She said, holding Brittany by her waist. "Please, Britt. I almost lost you today. Let me do this."

Brittany smiled at the sincerity in Anna's voice. "Okay," she said, grabbing the med kit and giving it to the brunette so she could look through the supplies. While she was doing that, the blonde sat down and lifted up her shirt so that the bruises and scratches were showing.

Anna carefully tended to Britt's wounds, making sure to be gentle. "We always seem to be taking care of each other's battle scars." Anna said as she wiped some blood away with a washcloth before placing a couple gauze on one cut and covering it with tape.

Brittany nodded, watching as Anna tended to her wounds. "That's what we have to do now, I'm afraid. But if this is how it has to be, then I will happily take care of any injuries you get."

"And I'll do the same for you babe," Anna said as she bandaged up the worst of the wounds Brittany had before looking into her piercing blue eyes. "I love my beautiful girl," she said pulling her in by the waist and kissing her lips. "And I will kiss all those wounds to make them feel better later when we get back to the base."

Brittany smiled and giggled at Anna's words. "I'm so glad that I have a girlfriend who's so kind and caring towards me," she murmured, leaning in for another kiss.

"I want to be the girlfriend you deserve. I'm going to do what I can to show you that you deserve someone who loves and cares and provides for you when others can't." Anna said right before kissing her girlfriend. "I want to be that person."

"You already are that person for me, Anna. You don't need to prove that to me any further, unless you want to of course," Brittany said, "But you already do love and care for me more than anyone else ever has."

"When all this over, you and I are going to find someplace quiet but beautiful. And we will live our lives together happily." Anna said, giving Brittany a new shirt so she didn't have to stay in her torn up and bloody one. "Josh will come and live close to us, and Sky and Dale and Ester and Melieke will all come and visit. I can picture it, just you and me, Josh, my parents. We'll be a happy family, and you'll never have to be alone again."

Brittany smiled, picturing in her head what Anna was describing. "I'd really like that. Hopefully all of this will be over sooner rather than later. I can't wait until the day where we can be together without fearing for our lives every day," the blonde replied, looking into Anna's eyes.

"Neither can I babe," Anna said smiling softly at Brittany as she let the girl put on the new shirt. She then heard the motorcycles heading their way. "They're on their way back, so I'm going to steal a kiss from you again." She said smiling before kissing Brittany gently.

"You can steal as many kisses as you want from me, babe," Brittany said with a cute giggle before her lips met Anna's. The blonde cupped the brunette's face with her hands, leaning into the kiss and smiling as she did so.

"Mmmm, I'll be stealing a lot more later when we get back to base." Anna hummed with a smirk before she pulled back and they got in their seats for the plane ride.

"All the Healers here are dead," Terry said as she climbed on. "I radioed Greg and they were successful as well. They freed all of the prisoners and took out the Healers without any casualties or serious injuries." The small crowd cheered as they all got in their seats.

"We've had a successful day folks." Terry stated with a smile. "You should be proud of yourselves." (Lets end the chapter here) (alright, the chapter looks good!)

 **An intense chapter with a sweet Sendrick moment at the end! Hope you guys liked it! The next chapter will be up soon!**

 **Until next time,**

 **Elle and Gabi**


	17. Chapter 16: Downtime

Chapter 16: Downtime

Brittany and Anna went to the hospital wing once they made it back to their base to have their wounds tended to. Afterwards, everyone who went on the mission was told to go and get some rest after their long day, especially Anna and Brittany since they were the most injured out of everyone else.

The two went back to Brittany's room, where they decided to spend some time cuddling together. Anna was the big spoon and had her arm around Brittany's waist, holding the blonde close to her. "Today was an eventful day. I'm really worn out after all that," the brunette said, yawning a little bit.

"I'd be surprised if you weren't." Britt said, yawning as well. "I'm just glad everyone is back safe and sound." She said bringing Anna's hand up to her lips to kiss it gently.

"Yeah, we're incredibly lucky that nobody has gotten seriously hurt on any of these missions," Anna murmured, smiling when she felt Brittany's lips on her skin.

"Well, besides us two. We got pretty beat up." Britt said with a soft chuckle laying back against her girlfriend's body so they could look up at the stars through the window on her ceiling.

"We did, but these wounds shouldn't take long to heal. At least, I hope that they don't take long to heal. We can't waste any time when it comes to finding Heinrick and my parents," Anna said.

"We will be alright babe, Terry just said that we have tomorrow to rest before she lets any of the people who went on the missions start working again." Britt said smiling and gazing up at the stars. "We will be back training in no time."

"I'm going to train harder than I ever have before," Anna said, her voice full of determination. "I'm going to be prepared for when we face Heinrick again. And when we do face him again, we're going to take him down and put an end to the Healers."

"Yes we are, but for now let's just focus on us and the stars. I'm too tired to think about fight anyone right now." Britt whispered with and sweet smile on her face. It was pure, Anna couldn't help but smile as well.

"Alright, that sounds like a good idea to me," Anna murmured back, leaning in and kissing Brittany's cheek before turning her head to look up at the stars through the window.

"Do you think my family is watching me from up there?" Brittany asked as they looked up at the stars, gazing at the millions of constellations that they could see.

"Of course they are, Britt. They're watching you, and even though they might not physically be with you, they're still with you in your heart," Anna said, looking over at the blonde who was still gazing up at the sky.

"My mother's name was Lyla. I got her nose and her hair, but I got my eyes from my father Griffin." Britt said smiling at her girlfriend. "I had two older brothers too, Lucas and Patrick. I have a feeling they would've really liked you. I wish you could've met them."

"I wish I could've met them too. I'm sure that they were great people, just like you," Anna said, smiling at Brittany and taking one of the blonde's hands in hers.

"You and Lucas would've gotten along. He loved U2, just like you do." Brittany added with a soft chuckle.

"Well if that's the case, then I think that we would've been best friends," Anna said with a chuckle.

Brittany smiled and continued to look up at the stars. Anna would glance at Brittany every now and then, smiling at her beautiful face. There was one moment where she just lay there gazing at Britt's gorgeous face in the dark as the blonde girl looked up at the sky.

Brittany happened to glance over at Anna at that moment, and she saw that her girlfriend was already looking at her. The blonde turned over on her side and smiled. "What were you looking at?" She asked.

Anna smiled gently before leaning in and kissing Brittany's lips gently. "My beautiful girlfriend." She whispered pulling back slowly and romantically looking into Britt's ey _e_ s.

Brittany smiled and blushed, looking down for a moment before bringing her gaze back up to Anna's eyes. "Really? That must be a coincidence, because I'm also looking at my beautiful girlfriend."

The young brunette chuckled before kissing her girlfriend again, this time holding her waist and pulling her closer gently, making sure she didn't cause any pain from her wounds. "You're pretty adorable," she murmured against Britt's lips.

Brittany smiled into the kiss. "I know that you don't like it when I call you cute or anything like that because you like to think that you're a badass, but you're pretty damn cute yourself," the blonde said with a giggle.

"Mmmmm." Anna groaned playfully before pulling Brittany's body gently against her own. "I bet you think that you're pretty funny." She leaned in and began to kiss Britt's neck in both tender and sweet kisses.

"And what's wrong with thinking that?" Brittany said, turning her head to the side to give Anna better access to her neck.

Anna didn't answer for a while, holding Brittany's against her own as she pressed gentle yet needy kisses on her neck. "Nothing's wrong with that." She murmured against the blonde girl's skin, her lips not breaking contact with Britt's neck as she said so.

Brittany closed her eyes and sighed happily as Anna's lips trailed all over her neck. "Mmmm, that feels good, babe. Keep doing that," she murmured softly. She bit her lip to keep from moaning too loudly. "What brought this on baby?"

"I figured we could make the most of our downtime." Anna murmured, rolling on top of Britt's body, being careful with her stitched up gun wound on her leg. She then moved her lips to the other side of Brittany's neck. "Plus, you're just so irresistible." She hummed against the younger girl's neck as she kissed the smooth skin.

"Is that so?" Brittany murmured, smiling and running her hands up and down Anna's sides, something that she knew turned on the brunette. "Your neck kisses are my weakness."

The brunette smiled at the comment as she continued to kiss along Brittany's skin. "I know we were told to take it easy, but I can't help myself around you, Brittany." Anna muttered absentmindedly as she kissed up behind Brittany's ear.

"We don't want to go too far then, babe. Like it or not, the doctors know what's best for us. If I could have it my way, I'd love to take this further, but I don't want one of us to accidentally get injured again or something," Brittany said, pulling away from Anna and then turning to look into her eyes. The brunette groaned playfully before nodding at Brittany as they looked at each other lovingly.

"I hate being injured," Anna said groaning again before laying down next to Brittany on the bed. "I lose my virginity and not a day later I get shot in the leg, restricting me from any sort of adult activities." She said laughing to herself as she looked up at the stars. "I've been blocked." Anna added smiling at her girlfriend. "Yup, that sounds like something that would happen to me."

Brittany laughed along with her girlfriend. "I'm sure that not being able to participate in adult activities for a week or two won't be that hard. But then again, considering how hard it is for you to control yourself sometimes, it might be more of a challenge," the blonde said in a teasing tone of voice.

"Well can you blame me? I have you as a girlfriend." Anna shot back playfully. "Brittany, you're so fucking beautiful; your body, your hair, your eyes, your smile. You're an amazing girl and I love you. Of course it's going to be hard for me to restrain my needs around you." She added trying to keep the grin off of her face even though it was nearly impossible.

Brittany felt her face heat up as she blushed, and she looked away from Anna for a moment. "That was really sweet of you to say, babe," she said, a smile growing on her face when she looked back at Anna. The blonde leaned in and placed a kiss on the brunette's lips. "That was really, really sweet."

"Well, I'm only sweet when it's just you and me alone together. So consider yourself lucky." Anna said smiling at her girlfriend.

"I like it when you say cute and romantic things to me. It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside," Brittany said, giggling a little bit. "I think that you should start saying sweet things all the time, even if we're not alone together. Unless that would make you less of a badass, of course."

"You know, the main reason I ask to be called a badass is because then I feel like I can protect you. But I will try to be more cute around everyone else if that's what you want. I'm just a private person, I guess." Anna said, linking their fingers together.

Brittany looked down at their hands and smiled. "I'm lucky to have someone like you to protect me when I need it," she said, smiling. "And I know that I've said this time and time again, but I still think that it's possible to be cute and a badass at the same time."

"If you said it, I believe it." Anna murmured with a smile as she looked at Brittany. There were so many things that captivated Anna about Brittany, and she couldn't choose a favorite. Everything about her was just so perfect.

Brittany looked back up to the window, smiling to herself. "Looking up at the night sky is one of my favorite things to do. It's just so peaceful. It lets me forget about everything that's going on and just be calm."

"Yeah, Josh and I would do it all the time." Anna said. "But my favorite thing is watching you look at the stars. It fascinates me a lot."

"Really? And why does watching me look at the stars fascinate you?" Brittany asked.

"If I told you, we'd be here for hours." Anna said looking down at their hands and smiling. "There are so many things that I would probably bore you. But I will tell you one thing is the way your eyes travel to stars, it's like they're to memorize each constellation."

Brittany smiled as she listened to Anna talk. "I guess when I look up at the stars, I do try to memorize the constellations. It's comforting when you look up and can find a familiar pattern of stars. It kind of makes me feel like at home, even when I'm far from it," the blonde said.

"I see what you mean," Anna said. She leaned over and kissed the side of Brittany's head. "I hope I make you feel like home away from home."

"Anna, you are my home away from home. You are my home in general. I always feel safe when I'm with you," Brittany murmured softly.

"Thank you, it makes me happy to hear you say that." Anna said. "I just want to be what you need."

Meanwhile in the training hall, Josh had his hands taped up and was hitting a punching bag. He wanted to get his strength back, and he wanted to be in the field on the next mission. The twenty-seven year old continued to punch hard and fast, sweating and grunting a little as he continued to workout.

Skylar walked into the training room and saw that Josh was already working out. The brunette man taped up his hands and went to the other punching bag that was in the training room, beginning to punch it as well. "Hey, buddy," Josh said once he noticed Skylar. "Shouldn't you be resting, you went pretty hard in the mission earlier. And Terry gave you guys tonight and tomorrow off."

"Eh, I couldn't really sleep." Skylar said. "Besides, Dale is in the shower and I have nothing to do yet." They then continued to punch the punching bags for awhile before either of them spoke again. "So, Gemma's really pretty." Skylar snuck in with a smirk, making Josh blush.

"I'm guessing that Anna's told everyone about my crush," Josh said, rolling his eyes.

"She didn't need to tell us, dude. It was pretty obvious," Skylar replied with a laugh, earning a glare from Josh. "There's nothing wrong with it. Gemma is really pretty, and she seemed to think you were pretty nice to look at too."

"I seriously doubt that is actually true," Josh said before continuing to punch the bag.

"Well, she was all smiles and giggles around you earlier in the hangar." Skylar mentioned as he threw a right hook.

"That doesn't mean that she likes me. She probably just sees me as a friend like everyone else. I'm going in with no expectations so that I don't get hurt or let down," Josh replied, focusing as he threw an uppercut at the punching bag.

"Alright man it's up to you," Skylar said. "But I do think she likes you."

"Yeah? Why would you think that? Other than her hanging out with me earlier in the hangar," Josh said.

"Well, Dale said she asked about you a lot during the rescue. She asked about how you got captured and if you were alright." Skylar mentioned, taking a quick break from hitting the bag. "She also said that Gemma asked if you'd be in the field with us on the next mission."

"I hope that I'll be in the field with you guys on the next mission. That's why I'm training so hard. I hate when I'm not part of the action, even though I know that it's safer since I'm still recovering," Josh said, throwing a few more punches.

"You'll be back with us soon enough." Skylar said in a reassuring tone. "Don't worry, you went through a lot in the last two weeks."

"I just want to get back out there. I hate not being able to help you guys out. It makes me feel like I'm useless, and I hate that feeling," Josh replied, throwing one last punch at the punching bag before stopping to catch his breath.

Skylar walked over to him and stopped the punching bag from swinging. "Cut yourself some slack. I know that sitting on the sidelines isn't easy for you, but you almost died from starvation at the base in Chicago. It's not a bad thing to rest if it means you can come back stronger than ever."

Josh sighed. "As much as I hate to admit it, you're probably right," he said, walking over and grabbing his bottle of water. "It's just so hard. I'm used to being in the middle of everything. I guess I just don't like having to sit on the sidelines because I'm not used to it."

Skylar put his hand on Josh's shoulder in a friendly way. "You'll be alright, you're the strongest guy I know. Not many people can take one two guys at once let alone seven or eight. You'll be back in no time man, I can assure you of that."

Josh smiled gratefully towards Skylar. "Thanks, man. I appreciate you talking with me about this. I've just had all these emotions bottled up inside and it feels so good to finally talk with someone about them," he said.

"Hey, no problem man. Everyone needs to vent every once in awhile." Skylar said.

The next morning Josh was one of the first people in the mess hall for breakfast. He grabbed a plate and got hash browns, scrambled eggs, ham and toast with some orange juice to drink. He then went and sat at a table by himself, and began eating. Josh looked up and saw Gemma walk in; he instantly gulped and felt his heart beat a little more frequently than normal. He quickly looked back down at his plate and continued eating.

Skylar, who was sitting at a table with Dale, Ester, and Meleike, watched Josh's reaction when Gemma walked in the room. "I'll be right back," he said to Dale before getting up and walking over to the table where Josh was sitting. "Hey, why don't you go sit and eat with Gemma?"

"Are you kidding? That's crazy, I can't just go and sit with her, she may think I like her." Josh stated nervously before taking a bite of his scramble eggs.

"Well isn't that kind of the whole point?" Skylar said. "You like her don't you? Just invite her to come and sit with you or ask if you could sit with her. Just say that you're trying to get to know people around the base."

Josh bit his lip, looking over at Gemma who was talking to her sister. "Alright, I'll do it," he said, taking a deep breath and standing up. "If this goes wrong and she hates me for the rest of my life, I blame you," he told Skylar.

"Don't be over dramatic, just be yourself." Skylar said, patting his shoulder. "Girl's like that a lot, trust me." He added before heading back over to sit down at his table next to Dale.

Josh took a deep breath and walked over to Jenna. "Hey Gemma," he said smiling kindly at her.

Gemma looked over her shoulder when she heard someone say her name, and she smiled when she realized it was Josh talking to her. "Hey, Josh!" She greeted kindly, smiling widely at him.

"Hey," Josh said smiling. "How are you?" He asked as she got a fork and a napkin.

"I'm great, a little sore from the mission yesterday but other than that it's all good." Gemma said as she began walking towards the table area. "Where are you sitting?"

Josh pointed over to his table. "I'm sitting over there. Would you care to join me?" He asked, biting his lip a little bit.

"Sure, that sounds great!" Gemma said with a big smile before following Josh to his table. "Did you get some good rest last night?"

Josh nodded. "Yeah, I slept alright since I didn't do much on the mission. Hopefully I'll have a bigger role in the next one," he replied.

"I'm sure you will," Gemma said smiling as they sat down. "Dale tells me that you're pretty good in the field, I can't wait to see you in action."

"It's been awhile since I've gotten to be in the field for a mission. I'm excited to get back into action. It feels weird having to sit out for the most part of the mission," Josh replied.

"Yeah, I know what you mean. I had to sit out for six months when I got shot in the lower back. It sucked, but now I'm back to full strength." Gemma stated, taking a bite of bacon. "But I doubt you'll out much longer than a week or so, Greg and Terry say that they need you."

"I hope that I'm not out for long. I just want to help take down the Healers in whatever way I can. They took my parents from me and my sister, and I'll do anything to get them back," Josh said, determination in his voice.

"That's really brave of you Josh, whoever has held or holds your heart is a very lucky person to have someone as caring and determined as you in their life." Gemma said with a smile before sipping her water.

"Nobody has ever really held my heart, unfortunately," Josh said, looking down at the table. "I guess I just don't want to get attached to someone and then lose them. I'm scared of losing people." Josh sighed, running his fingers through his hair. "God, I sound so stupid."

"No you actually don't." Gemma said shaking her head. "I completely understand that, I'm scared of that too. I think everyone is. Has it happened to you before? Losing someone you cared for?"

"Well, not really no. There was one girl about six years ago that said she liked me, and I kind of liked her." Josh said. "But it turned out she was secretly working for the Healers, and in order to ensure she didn't say anything about Anna and I to the Healers was if I-" He paused for a moment and cringed, "if I slept with her. And I did, because I didn't want to risk Anna's safety. But since then I haven't really met anyone."

Gemma nodded while Josh talked. Once he finished speaking, there was a silence before anyone spoke again. "Wow," Gemma said. "You've really been through a lot, Josh. I'm sorry that you had to go through something like that," she added in a soft voice.

"I know it's probably stupid for me to still feel like I can't trust anyone that way, I mean it was six years ago. But it's all I know." He said, looking down at his food for a moment. "I'm sorry, I didn't really mean to get overly deep and share all that about myself; you probably think I'm a sulky weirdo."

"First of all, I don't think that you're a sulky weirdo," Gemma said, watching as Josh lifted his head to look into her eyes. "And second of all, it's not stupid for you to feel the way you do. If I had to go through that, I would definitely feel the same way that you do. That was a traumatic experience, and you shouldn't have had to go through that. You didn't deserve to experience that."

Josh nodded and bit his lip a little bit before looking at her. "Thanks, you're pretty easy to talk to, you know that?" He asked smiling a little at her.

Gemma blushed at Josh's compliment. "Thanks. I guess I try to be friendly and nice to other people. I didn't have a lot of friends when I first got here, so I'm just trying to get to know everyone better," she replied.

"Yeah, me too." Josh said. "My best friend for the last seventeen years of my life was Anna. And while she will always keep that title, I've been trying to get to know the people here. Just so I know more than ten people." He said with a chuckle.

Gemma laughed along with Josh. "You're pretty funny, you know that Josh? You have a pretty good sense of humor."

"Umm, thanks." He said smiling shyly. "I'm glad you think so." He then took a bite of his hash browns and the two of them continued to talk while they ate their breakfast.

As the two were having their conversation, Skylar was watching from his table, smiling to himself. "Yup, those two definitely like each other," he said to Dale, who looked over at Josh and Gemma and nodded in agreement.

"I mean, they've been talking pretty consistently for the last twenty minutes or so. I have to agree with you there." Dale said smiling at Josh. "It would be nice if Josh found someone, he deserves to be happy, Just Brittany and Anna, and Ester and Meleike. And you and I." She said kissing Sky's cheek.

Skylar smiled, feeling his face heat up where Dale kissed his cheek. "Yeah, I hope that he and Gemma hit it off. They're both good for each other. Josh is really happy when he's with her, and vice versa."

"Yeah, especially considered they've had like three encounters total." Dale said giggling a little bit before taking a bite of her toast. She then rest a hand on Skylar's lap. "Can I ask you something?"

"Yeah, of course. What's up?" Skylar said, looking into Dale's eyes. "Is everything okay?"

"Everything is fine, I was just wondering if-" Dale started. "Well, it's kind of hard to say."

"Babe, you can tell me anything." Skylar said smiling kindly at her.

"Do you think we're ready to maybe, take the next step?" Dale asked.

Skylar looked at Dale. "Oh, that wasn't what I was thinking you were gonna ask," he said, a bit caught off-guard by her question. "But yeah, I think that we're ready. Do you?"

Dale nodded genuinely. "I love you Skylar, and I want to take that step with you." She said, smiling at him.

Skylar smiled back at Dale. "I love you too, Dale. Taking the next step with you in our relationship would mean the world to me."

Dale smiled and then leaned in and kissed his lips softly, when they pulled back Dale leaned in to whisper in his ear. "Meet me in my room tonight at 8:00, does that work?"

"Yeah, that time works for me. I'll see you then," Skylar said, winking at Dale with a smirk on his face.

Later that day Dale went over over Britt's room. Anna was currently talking with Aunt Terry just outside the room but she knocked on the door. "Hey Britt, it's Dale. Can I come in?"

Brittany heard a knock at the door, so she went over and opened it. "Hey, Dale! What's up?" The blonde said, stepping aside so the other blonde could come inside the room.

Dale closed the door behind her and then turned to Brittany. "I kind of need your advice on something." She said.

"Go ahead, shoot." Brittany said, sitting on her bed.

Dale sat down on the bed next to Brittany, looking down at the floor awkwardly. "So, Skylar and I talked today, and we've decided that we're going to take the next step in our relationship…" the blonde started.

A huge smile spread across Britt's face and she squealed. "Oh my god! This is amazing! Oh I'm so happy for you!" She then noticed the look on Dale's face. "Sorry, go on."

"Is it normal for someone to feel this nervous? I'm just, I'm just scared that I'm going to do something wrong and Sky's going to be awkward around me or something," Dale said, running her fingers through her hair.

"Oh honey, it's totally normal. This is your guys first time together." Britt said, patting the space on the bed next to her so Dale could sit down next to her. "It's a big step to take. And I know that you're nervous, I was incredibly nervous with Anna, and that wasn't even my first time."

"This isn't my first time either, I'm just worried I'm going to screw things up." Dale said.

"Dale, Skylar loves you. And even if there is a little bit of awkwardness when it happens, he's still going to love you. The first time with someone is always a bit nerve racking." Brittany stated confidently.

Dale took a few deep breaths to help calm herself down. "I just really don't want to mess this up. I love him so, so much," she said softly.

"I get that, it's a big deal. But like I said, the first time is never going to be perfect. What matters is you love him and he loves you." Brittany said, taking Dale's hand. "Just keep being you, he loves you more than anything. This isn't going to change the way he feels."

Dale nodded, smiling a little bit. "Thanks, Brittany. You give really good advice," the blonde said, standing up. "I really appreciate the help."

"Thanks," the younger girl said with a giggle. "You're going to have an amazing night tonight, I completely believe that."

Dale smiled and hugged Brittany. "Thanks, again. It's nice to have people to talk to about this." she said before pulling back from the hug.

"No problem." Brittany answered. "I know you'd do the same for me."

Dale nodded. "Well, I'm not gonna bother you anymore," she said, smiling at Brittany as she walked towards the door.

"Don't worry. You weren't bothering me at all." Brittany said. "In fact, it makes me feel good that you chose to come to me about this." She mentioned before opening the door for Dale. "If you ever need to talk about something, I'm here. So don't hesitate to come to me."

Later that night after dinner, Skylar took a quick but thorough shower. He wanted to look his best for Dale that night. The twenty-one year old took a deep breath in the mirror, and pulled a maroon v-neck t-shirt on and a pair of blue jeans and some comfy slip on vans. After one more deep breath her opened the door of his bedroom and head over to Dale's room.

Dale had taken a shower and was just finishing drying her hair when she looked over at the clock, seeing that it read 8:00. "Shit. I'm not ready yet!" She said to herself.

Skylar ran into Anna in the hall. "Hey, I have an odd question." He said to the girl on crutches.

"Okay, ask it." Anna answered.

"If you were straight, would I look handsome enough to…. You know." Skylar asked nervously.

"You know what?" Anna said, not getting the point that Skylar was making. After a couple seconds, she then realized. "Oh! I get it now. You look great, Skylar. And that's coming from a lesbian, so you should feel proud of yourself."

"You really mean that?" He asked hopefully.

"Yeah," Anna said with a smile. "I really mean it. Have fun with Dale," she said before hopping off on her crutches.

Skylar took a deep breath and then continued to walk down the hall towards Ragsdale's room. When he got there, he knocked on the door once or twice.

By the time Skylar arrived, Dale had somehow managed to finish getting ready. She took a deep breath and slowly walked over to the door, unlocking it and opening it. "Hey," she said shyly, smiling at Skylar.

"Hey," Skylar said, taking a deep breath. "Wow, you look really beautiful." He smiled widely at her. "Like really, really beautiful."

Dale blushed at Skylar's words, biting her lip and glancing down at the floor before looking back up at him. "You look pretty handsome yourself, Sky," the blonde replied, opening the door all the way so Skylar could walk into the room.

"I snuck some sparkling cider from the mess hall, I thought maybe we could have something to drink before it happens. Just to calm us down." He said sweetly when he walked inside and Dale shut the door behind him.

Dale smiled. "That was a really sweet thing of you to do," she said, giving Skylar a kiss on the cheek before going to get some cups they could use for the sparkling cider.

"I wanted tonight to be special." Skylar said, blushing a little bit when the twenty-four year old kissed his cheek. "Because I love you, and I want it to be some look back at and smile."

Dale smiled. "I want tonight to be special, too. I know that tonight is going to be special," she said, taking the bottle of cider and pouring some into the cups, one for Skylar and one for herself.

When Dale handed him a glass he raised it and said, "Here's to you and me baby." He smiled at her and then added to his toast. "Here's to tonight, and the love we share." They then took a drink and Skylar set his glass down, walking over to Dale. The young man placed his hands on her hips and leaned in to kiss her gently. Once their lips parted, he asked "Are you ready to start baby?"

Dale smiled at Skylar, leaning in and connecting their lips for a second time. "I'm ready if you're ready," she said, gazing into his eyes lovingly.

Skylar started off slow, just letting the kissing commence. His hands rested on Dale's waist as their lips moved in perfect sync. When Dale wrapped his arms around his shoulders, Skylar's moved to the dip in her back.

Dale let Skylar take the lead, cupping his face with her hands as the kiss grew deeper. She began to walk backwards towards the bed, pulling Skylar with her. The blonde started running her fingers through Skylar's brown hair, gently tugging at the ends.

A groan of pleasure rose up from Skylar's lungs as Dale tugged at his hair. "You're absolutely beautiful." He murmured, pulling their bodies flush against each other and they made their way over to the bed. Dale pulled him down on top of her and Skylar pressed their bodies together, cupping Dale's cheeks once their lips came in contact once again.

Dale turned her head to the side, allowing Skylar to begin to kiss her neck. Once he did, the blonde let out a soft moan. "That feels so good," she whispered as Skylar's soft lips trailed across her skin.

The young man smiled and made his kisses a little rougher as he moved to kiss her collarbone. One hand trailed along the outside of one of Dale's legs while the other one held Dale's head to one side so he could pay more attention with his lips to that side of her neck. "Is this okay?"

Dale nodded her head. "This is better than just okay, Skylar, this is perfect," she murmured, closing her eyes and sighing happily.

Skylar paused his actions for just a moment. "I just want to know what you're comfortable with doing." He said. "So, would you be comfortable giving me head if I gave it to you first before the actual sex happens?" He asked sweetly, just wanting to make Dale feel comfortable.

Dale couldn't help but smile at how sweet Skylar was being towards her. "Yes, I would be comfortable with doing that. And I really appreciate you asking me whether I'm comfortable or not. That means a lot to me."

"Well you mean the world to me," Skylar said smiling. "I don't want to make you do anything that you don't want to do. So just tell me to stop if you get uncomfortable okay?" He murmured before kissing her neck in a soft trail up to her lips. He then pulled back and stood on his knees, taking off his shirt and revealing his toned upper body. His shoulders were strong and his abs were pretty defined, which he knew Dale liked. He then leaned back down and smashed his lips against hers.

"God, you're so hot Skylar," Dale mumbled against his lips, her fingers tracing the outline of his abs as they kissed. They only pulled away when they needed to catch their breath, and within seconds they were kissing passionately again.

Skylar smiled. "I'm nowhere near as hot as you." He murmured against her lips while his strong hands pulled at the hem of Dale's shirt. "Can I take this off?" He whispered catching his breath again as Dale pulled back.

Dale nodded, sitting up so that Skylar could take off her shirt easier. Once he did, Dale took it and tossed it onto the floor, pulling Skylar back down on top of her. Dale's arms were around his broad shoulders and she leaned their foreheads together for a moment before kissing Skylar's lips gently. "You're so amazing, Skylar Astin, and I'm so lucky that you're mine."

This made the young boy smile, and he kissed her softly once again. "Dale, there aren't enough words to describe what I feel for you baby." He said before kissing down her neck to her chest, running his hands along her thighs as he did so.

Dale laid her head back on the pillows as Skylar slowly kissed down her body, fighting the urge to moan as he did so. "You have no idea how good this feels, baby. Keep doing this. This is amazing," she whispered to Skylar.

Skylar moved down even further and sucked on her stomach, leaving a few hickeys on her porcelain skin. "You are my wonderland." He whispered while sucking a few more purple hickeys into her skin, going back and soothing each bruise with a kiss.

Dale pushed Skylar's head closer to her skin, loving the feeling that he was giving her. Her breath hitched whenever Skylar nipped at her skin with his teeth and then she would sigh happily once he would kiss the hickey that he had just left. "Oh my god, Sky. How are you this good?"

This made Skylar smile, and then he slowly dragged his tongue up her abs before kissing her lips. "Can I take these off?" He asked about her pj shorts and underwear.

"Please do," Dale moaned, running her fingers through Skylar's hair as he started to take off her shorts.

Skylar let out a groan as Dale tugged at his hair, urging him on to toss her pj shorts and underwear to the floor. He then kissed up both of her thighs multiple times before wrapping her legs around his head, licking up her wet core slowly to drive Dale insane.

"Oh my go-" Dale moaned, throwing her head back onto the pillows as her eyes rolled back into her head. Her hands gripped the sheets of the bed tightly. "Fuck! That's so good!" This spurred Skylar on, and he flicked his tongue around, giving Dale the full experience.

"Mmmm, you taste so good babe." He murmured sucking on her folds while his tongue flicked around and around.

All Dale could do was moan in response, experiencing feelings of pleasure that she hadn't experienced in a long time. "Sky, I think I'm getting close," the blonde murmured, her chest heaving as she breathed in and out to catch her breath.

Skylar could feel himself getting turned on by her moaning, and he smirked when she gasped at good he was with his mouth. "Don't hold back, babe." He whispered, holding her legs up as he got her closer to what would be her first climax of the night.

A few strokes of Skylar's tongue later, Dale finally reached her climax. The blonde pushed Skylar's head impossibly closer to her core as she moaned loudly. "Sky!" She yelled out as she rode out her climax.

"Fuck," Skylar moaned as she screamed his name. It had to be the sexiest sound he'd ever heard. Once she had come down from her high he kissed up her naked body and kissed her lips, smiling when Dale reached down to undo his jeans. "I can't wait for you to give me head babe, fuck." He moaned as they kissed.

"I can't wait to repay you for giving me one of the best orgasms of my life," Dale replied with a smile as she started unbuttoning Skylar's jeans. "That really was amazing, Sky. Thank you so much for that. I really needed it."

"Whatever you need babe, just ask for it." Skylar answered before letting her flip them over. He smiled when she pulled off his jeans, and he kicked them off once her got them to his ankles. You could see his erection and this made Dale smirk. "I'm so excited for you babe." He moaned.

"You must be someone who gets excited very quickly. I haven't even really done anything yet," Dale replied with a smirk and a chuckle.

"You moaning my name turned me on," Skylar admitted, blushing a little when Dale came back up to kiss him. His strong hands ran through her hair as they kissed. "Show me how talented you are babe." He whispered with a smirk, tugging at her bottom lip with his teeth.

"Oh, I plan on doing just that, Skylar," Dale said, looking into her boyfriend's eyes and winking at him seductively before she started to pull down his boxers at an agonizingly-slow pace just to tease him a little bit before the fun began.

"Shit, you're such a tease." Skylar moaned with a chuckled as Dale dropped his underwear to the floor. He kissed Dale once more before laying back and letting her take control. Skylar moaned softly when she began kissing down his abs. "Mmmm, babe."

Dale smirked at Skylar's reaction as she continued to kiss down his abs, leaving an occasional bite as well. "You might not know this, but I think that your abs are one of your most attractive features," the blonde whispered, running her tongue over one of the bites she had just left on his skin.

"Maybe I'll keep my shirt off whenever we're alone." He mentioned with a chuckle. "Ahhh, fuck Dale." Skylar said, moaning and closing his eyes as Dale continued to tease him. "You giving me head will be amazing, but I can't wait for the main event. Shit, Dale!" He moaned again.

Dale couldn't help but chuckle, knowing that she was driving Skylar absolutely crazy. "How badly do you want me, Skylar? I might stop teasing you if you can convince me to," she whispered in a soft voice.

"Babe," Skylar whimpered softly. "Shit, I've never wanted someone like this before." He said moaning afterwards. "I need you-" he started. "I need you so badly baby, you're turning me on so, so much."

Dale sat up, looking down at Skylar. "I don't know, that wasn't very convincing, Skylar," she said, smiling at him. Skylar looked up at her with desperation in his eyes, and Dale knew that it was time she gave him what he wanted. She leaned down and kissed him on the lips, lingering there for a few extra moments before trailing her lips down his body one last time. "Are you ready babe?" She whispered, looking up at him as her lips reached the bottom of his six pack.

Skylar weakly nodded, reaching down and moving Dale's hair away from her face. "You're so beautiful, Dale." He said smiling at her lovingly. "And yes, babe I'm ready."

Dale smiled back up at Skylar, brushing one last piece of blonde hair out of her face before she finally put her mouth where Skylar needed her to, starting off by taking the tip in her mouth and sucking roughly on it. Dale felt Skylar instantly shudder with pleasure and she smirked with satisfaction, deciding to start slow and then build up the pace as they went along.

Skylar took a couple rapid breaths as Dale bobbed her head up and down on his dick. "Fuck, Dale!" He moaned, closing his eyes for a short moment. "Fuck, yes baby! That feels amazing."

Encouraged by Skylar's reactions, Dale started to bob her head up and down a bit faster than she was before. As she did that, she felt Skylar's hands run through her hair and tug on the ends before pushing her head down, causing her to start going even faster. "You're really good at this babe," Skylar said before moaning again she sucked his dick perfectly.

Dale smiled and then sucked roughly, taking him all in her mouth, causing the young man to moan out in pleasure, she repeated this motion a few times and it drove Sky crazy. "Fuck, I'm close baby!" Skylar moaned, closing his eyes and laying his head back on the pillows. Knowing that this was the home stretch, Dale gave it all she had to make sure that Skylar experienced the most pleasure possible.

"Ahhh fuck! Dale!" He moaned, feeling his climax hit him as Dale finished giving him a blowjob. His chest heaved up and down as Dale kissed back up his body. Once their lips met again Sky caught his breath.

The kiss became pretty intense as Skylar ran his hands through her and bit her bottom lip gently with his teeth. "I brought protection." He whispered sweetly in a brief breathing break between kisses.

Dale smiled at Skylar's words. "You're so sweet, you know that, right? You're the most caring guy that I've ever been with," she whispered back to him.

"I just want to make sure you feel safe…" He whispered before kissing her lips. "...And comfortable." He then kissed her again before continued. "…And loved… Because I love you." He whispered before getting up and reaching down to his jeans, taking out a couple condoms and setting them on Dale's bedside table.

Dale smiled and kissed him gently before cupping his cheeks and kissing him. "I love you."

"I got those in the health department on base." He said with a chuckle. "Apparently people are pretty sexually active here." He said smiling. "They must know I want my girl to feel loved and safe."

Dale couldn't help but blush at all the nice things that Skylar was saying. "I'm the luckiest girl in the world to be able to have you, Skylar. I don't know what I did to deserve you, but I am so glad that I have you in my life. I wouldn't be anywhere near as happy as I am with you."

"I'm pretty damn lucky to have you too baby," He said before kissing her gently but quickly. He grabbed one of the condoms and got it out of the small package before rolling it on and flipping Dale over, kissing her while doing so. "I love you," he murmured against her lips. "I love you so much."

"I love you too, Skylar," Dale said, breaking the kiss and looking up into his eyes. "I love you more than anything in this whole world, and I'm so ready to consummate our relationship," she added, smiling softly.

"So am I," Skylar murmured. "I'm so, so ready baby." He kissed her again before wrapping her legs around his hips. He then lined up their hips and then slowly entered her, moaning softly as he did so. "Shit, this is going to be amazing." He moaned before kissing her lips.

Dale moaned against Skylar's lips as they kissed. "Skylar, baby, this feels so good," she whispered, biting down on her lip as another moan rose up in her throat. "I agree, this is going to be so amazing."

Skylar waited a moment for Dale to adjust to him before he began thrusting slowly, using his hips expertly as he pleasured his girlfriend. One hand was on the pillow beside Dale's head and the other was pushing her hips down against the bed as he started to pick up the pace. "Fuck, you like that baby?" He moaned, talking dirty as he thrusted at a decent pace. "You like that?"

"Hell, Skylar! Fucking hell baby! It's absolutely perfect," Dale replied, moaning loudly as Skylar began to thrust in and out of her.

"Shit! You feel so good!" Skylar moaned. "Ahhh, ahhh!" He kissed her lips while he thrusted. "Ahhh shit, ahhh fuck!" he started going faster. After a while he whispered. "Do you want to be on top baby? Do you want to ride me?" He said in a very sexy and husky tone in her ear.

As if she already wasn't turned on enough at that moment, Skylar's voice turned Dale on even more, and she couldn't help but let out a soft moan. "Yes," she whispered back to him, digging her nails into his back and leaving deep red marks along his back.

"Fucking hell, baby!" He moaned, sucking on her neck as he thrusted awhile longer, pleasuring her with everything he had. He then stopped for a moment and then lay down awaiting Dale to come and sit on him so they could continue. "Ride me, Dale! Fucking hell, ride me hard!"

Dale giggled a little bit at how much Skylar was swearing. "I didn't expect you to be swearing this much, but I do have to say that it is kinda hot," she said, hovering over Skylar as she aligned their hips before slowly sitting down on him, moaning softly.

"Oh yeah?" Skylar said smirking, his smirk was cut short and he got back inside her. He sat up and thrusted up into her while she rode him, to give them both more pleasure. "I'll swear more if you want me too babe," he whispered before moaning. He moaned, massaging her breast as she rode him. "Oh my god, you're so tight, fuck!" He growled, spanking her as she rode him. "You want me to fuck you harder, baby? I can fuck you so hard!" He whispered in her ear seductively.

Dale moaned at Skylar's words and weakly nodded her head as she continued to ride him while he thrusted into her. "Oh my god, Sky! Fuck!" She moaned, kissing his lips roughly.

Skylar smirked. "You like that baby?" He moaned, feeling her begin to close around him as his dick fucked her core hard and fast. "Bounce on my dick, fuck!" He moaned, holding her hips as she did so. "How does this feel baby? You want more?"

"Fuck yes! Give me more!" Dale said, her throat starting to feel hoarse from moaning so much. She placed her hands on Skylar's shoulders, throwing her head back and letting out another long moan.

Hearing Dale moan and curse because of him made Skylar smirk. He flipped them back over so he was on top again and then started thrusting harder and faster than he had been doing earlier, giving Dale everything he had. "Ahhhh, ahhhh!" He moaned, leaning down to kiss her as his arms rested on either side of her head as they fucked each other. "Shit you're so tight! I'm so fucking close Dale!" He moaned loudly. "Ahhhh, are you close baby?"

"I'm close too, babe," Dale said, panting as she tried to catch her breath. With every thrust, Dale felt her walls clench up more and more. "F-fucking hell, Sky!" She yelled out, no longer trying to be quiet.

"Scream my name baby! Let the world know you're mine!" Skylar moaned as he came close to his orgasm. "Shit!" He moaned going harder, hitting her g spot with every thrust now. "Dale I'm cumming! FUCK!" He moaned loudly, sucking on her neck intensely as hit his climax.

"Skylar! SKY!" Dale screamed as she too hit her climax. Skylar continued to thrust into her as they both came down from their highs. "Oh my god, baby. You were so incredible," Dale whispered, breathing deeply to catch her breath.

The young brunette haired boy smiled and kissed her lips gently as he pulled out and threw away the condom. He then leaned in again kissed her, cupping her cheeks as they crawled under the covers. "Dale," he whispered, catching his breath. "Thank you for that." He whispered, tucking her hair away from her face. "Sex has never been as amazing as it was with you tonight." He said kissing her once more. "Thank you, so much."

"I couldn't agree with you more," Dale replied, smiling and kissing Skylar back happily. Once their lips parted, she closed her eyes and rested her head on his chest. "I love you so much, Skylar Astin," she murmured.

The young man smiled to himself gently and ran his hand through her hair gently as her head lay there on his chest. "I love you too, Anna Ragsdale Camp." He whispered, closing his eyes and enjoying this moment, knowing no one could ever take it away from them.

 **Dayyymmnnn! If you ask me, that was a pretty hot moment between Dale and Skylar. And he was so sweet, making sure she comfortable with everything.**

 **Poor Anna and Brittany have been cock blocked by their injuries... lol**

 **And Josh seems to be hitting it off with this Gemma girl.**

 **Keep reading to find out what happens next.**

 **Until next time!**


	18. Chapter 17: News From The East

Chapter 17: News From the East

A few weeks past and it had been rather quiet at the base. Only a few scouting groups would be sent out every now and then to see if Healers had decided to come snooping.

Anna was currently getting her stitches removed in the hospital wing while Brittany was getting most of her bandages removed. It was a good feeling to know that she could go full speed in training now. And since she and Anna had lost so much time from their injuries, the two girls had decided that they would train four times a day for an hour in order to get back into fighting shape.

"And there's the last one," the doctor said as he removed the last of Anna's stitches. "You can now go back to training and any other regular activities. Let us know if you feel any pain in the area where your stitches were and we can give you some medication to help with that."

"Thanks, Doc," Anna said with a smile, "I appreciate all the help."

Brittany was getting her hands taped up for the punching bag after warming up on the treadmill. She smiled when she saw Anna walking into the training center. "Hey there," she said pecking Anna's lips before she continued taping her hands. "Did the doctor clear you too?"

Anna nodded. "I'm so glad to finally be able to get back to training again. The last two weeks have been really long, but it's been worth the wait," she said with a smile.

"I agree, we're going to have to work twice as hard as everyone to catch up." Brittany stated before heading over to the punching bag. "Go get warmed up and then we can practice boxing in case we ever go hand to hand with a Healer."

"Alright. But you best believe that I'm not going to go easy on you, not after the last time we fought hand-to-hand," Anna said with a chuckle before heading over to the other punching bag.

"Don't worry, I think I can handle that." Brittany smirked and then continued to punch and kick at the punching bag. She would glance over at Anna every once in awhile and smile. Anna always had this look of determination on her face when she worked out, and Brittany found it to be pretty hot. She then turned back again to her punching bag and threw a couple sick punches.

After they both spent some time warming up with the punching bags, they took a quick break before they were to start practicing their boxing. "You better get ready, Snow," Anna said with a confident smirk.

"You talk big game for someone who's only five foot two," Brittany teased her girlfriend, before grabbing some boxing gloves and putting them on. "Show me what you got Kendrick."

Anna grabbed a pair of boxing gloves as well, putting them on her hands and getting into her stance. "I'm going to be polite and let you make the first move, Snow," Anna said, still wearing a confident smirk on her face.

"You may regret that," Brittany stated before throwing a sick left hook right into Anna's stomach. "I don't need you to go easy on me." She said unable to keep the grin off of her face.

Anna winced, coughing a little bit before regaining her stance. She rolled her eyes when she saw the grin that Brittany had on her face. "Yeah, I definitely do regret that," she said, throwing a punch towards Brittany's side. Britt quickly blocked Anna's first attacks and then ducked under a punch before getting kneed in the stomach.

"Shit," Britt felt the wind get knocked out her for a moment. She then chuckled and got back up, doing a swift 360 degree rotation close to the ground, leaving one leg out to trip Anna as she did so, making the brunette fall to the ground. Brittany smirked at her girlfriend. "Whoops." She said before guarding herself again.

Anna got up from the floor, catching her breath as she held up her hands in front of her. Her leg started to hurt where the stitches had been removed, but she ignored the pain as she started to throw quick punches at Brittany, trying to catch her off-guard. She managed to succeed a few times, hitting Britt in the shoulder once and her abs twice.

"Alright, now I'm done going easy on you." Brittany said with smirk before she threw a round of quick punches that Anna had to try and deal with. She threw so many in a short amount of time, Anna missed one right to her abs and it caused her to stumble back. Britt took this opportunity and straddled Anna, pinning her opponent to the ground. She couldn't help the smug grin that was on her face.

Anna struggled to get out from underneath Brittany, trying to shove the blonde off of her unsuccessfully. "Dude, get off of me," Anna said, trying to sit up.

"Not before this," Britt said, leaning down to give Anna a cute little peck on the lips before getting off of her and letting the brunette stand up. "Show me what you got, Kendrick." She said, gesturing for Anna to attack. "Come on, I know you have more in you."

Anna wiped some sweat off of her forehead, furrowing her eyebrows as she focused. She threw two punches at Brittany's head, which were both blocked, and then some at the blonde's midsection. The brunette started to get frustrated as Brittany kept blocking her punches. "How are you so good at this?" She muttered under her breath.

"My dad trained me and my brothers in the camp whenever he could." Brittany said as she continued. "He taught me to be the fighter that I am." She mentioned. Anna then caught her hip in a painful punch and Britt fell back before quickly getting back up.

"Well he did a really good job, then. I'm impressed," Anna said, allowing Brittany to catch her breath and prepare herself before she began to throw punches again.

They continued this for a little while longer before an announcement came over the intercom. "Everyone report to the meeting room immediately! Repeat, everyone report to the meeting room immediately!"

Britt turned to Anna. "What do you think that's about?"

Anna shrugged her shoulders. "I have no idea, but it sounds pretty urgent," she said as they took off the boxing gloves and made their way to the meeting room. Brittany used a towel to wipe the sweat from her forehead before she followed Anna out of the training hall.

Once they made it to the meeting room, Terry and Greg were talking to each other quietly, and they both seemed a little on edge. This made Anna wonder what was going on, so she walked up to them.

"Hey guys, what's going on?" She asked once she was close to them.

"We received a video message from Heinrick and his henchmen." Greg said nervously. "It's bad, Anna."

"What do you mean?" Anna asked, concern in her voice. "Show me the video."

"Anna, you might not want to see it-" Terry started.

"Show me the video. Please," Anna said in a serious voice.

"We will once everyone is here." Greg said, placing a hand on Anna's shoulder.

Once everyone was there, Greg called for silence. "Earlier today, the Healers and Heinrick Francis released a video to the public. We are about to show it to you. Please, if your kids are here cover their eyes."

Britt walked up to Anna and took her hand, squeezing it a couple times. The video appeared on a screen on the wall behind them. Heinrick stood there with a henchmen on either side of him.

"Hello, public of America. For the past thirteen years after the war, we have lived in peace and harmony. But now it seems, that some of you have decided to break the rules. In the past five months, three shipments from foreign countries have been stopped due to a few delinquents playing with fire. Two bases and two camps have been destroyed. The most recent one happened in Chicago two weeks ago."

Brittany looked over at Anna, who watched on in horror.

"Now I gave a warning of what would happen if you rebellious law breakers did this again. I have many prisoners held hostage in high security, and for every base you destroy, and for every camp you liberate. Every shipment you try and stop, it will cost you. I will send my troops to your towns and cities and I will make sure none of them are left unharmed." Heinrick warned.

The camera then zoomed out to four soldiers holding two people against their will with knives at their throats. These two prisoners, were Joan and James Kendrick. They had scars and brand new wounds on their body, and Anna felt her heart stop.

"Anna and Josh Kendrick. I now speak directly to you and your little group of misfits." Heinrick said. "That includes Brittany Snow, Anna Ragsdale Camp, Skylar Astin, Ester Dean, and Meleike Johnson. I hold members from your families hostage. If you want me to spare them, you will stop this madness and turn yourselves in. And for every day you six don't turn yourselves in? Well, it means that I kill a prisoner for each day you waste. Think about it." The video then quickly turned to fuzz and then went black, leaving the crowd in silence.

There was a silence that seemed to last forever before Anna finally spoke up. "There's only one thing we can do," she said quietly, looking down at the floor. "We have to turn ourselves in."

Brittany looked over at Anna, and then down at their hands. She knew Anna was right; but she also knew that if they suggested turning themselves in, Terry and Greg wouldn't let them.

Terry spoke up. "We aren't letting Heinrick take any more lives. But we are going to let him take anymore people captive."

"But how else are we going to stop him?" Anna spoke up. "We can't just sit here and pretend like he isn't serious. It'll be safer for everyone around the country if we just turn ourselves in."

"That's not a risk that we're willing to take. What if you turn yourselves in and he kills the prisoners anyways? The best course of action would be to stay put while we assess the situation and figure out what to do," Greg said to his niece.

"I'm not going to just sit around while you decide what's best for us! You heard him! He's going to kill people for every day that we don't turn ourselves in. We have to do something," Anna argued back.

"Anna, that is out of the question." Terry cut in.

Brittany then but into the conversation. "Heinrick has never been someone to do something he didn't say he'd do. Believe me, he tortured me for five years straight. Even if his promises are sadistic and evil, he only does what he says he'll do. This I know for sure." She said. "If we turn ourselves in he won't hurt any of the prisoners, we have to go if we want to save their lives."

"I'm sorry, but we won't allow it. It's too risky, we need to stay and think of a plan." Greg answered.

"Are you fucking kidding me?" Anna said, raising her voice. "You're just going to sit and wait while those innocent people die? I can't believe you would do something like this. My parents are your family to, and family comes first!"

"Enough!" Terry yelled at her niece. "No one is to leave this base until we have a plan to get those prisoners out! You are all dismissed for now."

The crowd dispersed and Anna shook her head at her aunt and uncle before storming out of the room to her own bedroom. When she got there, she slammed the door shut and walked over to her bed, sitting down and running her fingers through her hair. She knew that she had to do something, but she also knew that it would be extremely hard to get out of the base ever since Terry and Greg ordered that nobody was allowed to leave.

Josh walked up to his sister's room and knocked on the door. "Hey sis, can I come in?" He asked.

"Yeah," Anna answered before laying back on her mattress.

Josh opened the door and walked inside of the room, closing the door behind him. "I know how you're feeling right now. I'm feeling the exact same way," he said, sitting down on the bed next to Anna.

"If it were us who were captured, mom and dad would come and save us." Anna said, shaking her head. "We can't just sit and wait. For all we know he could've killed our parents already."

"He hasn't killed them. That would be stupid of him to do. He needs to keep them alive if he wants us to come looking for him, and he knows that," Josh replied.

"I know that, all I'm saying is we can't waste time." Anna said, sitting up next to her brother. "We need to get to them, we need to turn ourselves in. So we can keep our families alive." She stated confidently. After a moment of silence she turned to Josh. "Round everyone up and tell them to meet in the main hangar bay at midnight."

"Are you sure about this, Anna?" Josh said, a bit hesitant.

Anna nodded. "I'm sure. We have to do this, Josh. We both know it," she said firmly. "We're leaving at midnight, so we need to start packing now."

"Okay, I'll send for them." He said, patting his sister on the back.

"Josh," Anna said as Josh walked towards the door, the man stopped and turned to his sister. "You're the best brother I could've asked for." She said smiling.

"Thanks sis, you're pretty great yourself." Josh said smiling at Anna before turning and walking out the door.

Josh was on his way to find some of their group members when he ran into Gemma. "Hey Josh!" She called out to him with a smile on her face.

"Oh, Gemma hey." Josh said smiling nervously. "How are you?"

"I'm alright. How about you? I'm so sorry that you had to see that awful video Heinrick and the Healers made," Gemma replied.

"Well it's motivated my sister and I to do what's right." Josh said, fixing his jacket.

"What do you mean?" Gemma asked with a confused look on her face,

"We're going to turn ourselves in. It's the right thing to do if it means those innocent people's lives are spared." Josh said turning to face Gemma when she stopped dead in her tracks.

"Are you crazy? Terry and Greg said that nobody is allowed to leave the base until they figure out a plan!" Gemma said, her eyes wide with shock.

"Let me ask you something. What if it was your family, Gemma?" Josh asked bluntly, staring at her. "You'd do whatever it takes to keep them safe, even if it meant having to turn yourself in. Well, that's what they're going to and you can't tell anyone about this."

Gemma was about to say something, but then she closed her mouth and looked down at the floor. "Okay. But you better promise me that you'll come back. I can't lose anybody else."

"Why would it matter if you lost me? I'm nobody important." Josh said shrugging his shoulders. "I don't even get why you hang out with me." He chuckled before putting his hands in his pockets. When he saw Gemma's extremely worried expression on her face, he sighed "It may be a long time before I see you again though, but I promise I'll make it back here to you, okay?" He said, walking up and giving her a hug. "I have to do this though."

Gemma nodded, hugging Josh back tightly. "Stay safe, okay? You've already almost died once, and none of us wants it to happen again," she said, looking into his eyes.

"I'll be okay." Josh said smiling at her. "And whenever it is that we meet again, I'll return in one piece." He placed a hand on her cheek for a moment. "You're one of a kind Gemma, and I'm so lucky to have met a girl as amazing as you." He said before leaning in and leaving a sweet but short kiss on her lips to keep her waiting for him. He pulled away slowly before turning to go look for everyone in their small group.

Before Josh walked away, Gemma ran up and pulled him into a second kiss, this one being more passionate than the first. After a while, she pulled away so they could catch their breath, and she couldn't help but smile. "I've been wanting to do that for a long time," she admitted.

Josh smiled to himself before looking at her, his hands remaining on her waist from when she ran into his arms. "I hope you don't mind waiting awhile longer before you get to do that again."

"I'll wait for you, as long as it takes." Gemma muttered before letting go of Josh so he could round everyone up.

Later that night around midnight, Anna was waiting in the main hangar bay with Josh and Brittany, awaiting the others. They didn't say much for they were afraid of someone overhearing them and figuring out that they were going to sneak off. A few minutes later, Ester and Meleike joined them, followed by Skylar and Dale. "Alright, now that everyone's here, we need to quickly come up with a plan and then get out of here before people notice that we're gone," Anna said.

Ester snuck them onto one of the jets stored in the main hangar. It was full with enough fuel to get them to the capitol in Washington DC. Anna sat next to Brittany while Josh sat next to Meleike, Skylar and Dale while Ester flew the plane.

"I'm nervous," Anna said to Britt as she looked out the window of the plane. "I'm scared and I'm nervous and I feel like I'm going to throw up because I don't want this to go wrong."

"As awful as Heinrick is, he doesn't lie about what he will and won't do. He said that if we turned ourselves in that he wouldn't touch the prisoners." Brittany said, squeezing Anna's hand a few times. "Your parents are going to be alright."

Anna nodded and then took a deep breath. "You know, he said something interesting in the video." She said looking over at Brittany. "He said that he had members of all our families captive."

"So?" Brittany asked. "What are you trying to get at?"

"Do you think he has some of your family hostage as well?" Anna suggested.

"I don't know who he would have as hostages. I watched him kill all my family before my eyes. Unless he has some of my distant relatives, I find that highly unlikely," Brittany replied, although she couldn't help but hope that Anna was right.

Anna squeezed Brittany's hand back and whispered, "I love you." She said before kissing Britt's cheek and turned to look out of the window.

"I love you too," Britt whispered back, smiling and resting her head on Anna's shoulder. She closed her eyes, dozing off into a light slumber.

Sky was letting Dale rest her head on his shoulder while he talked to Josh. "Does Gemma know we left to turn ourselves in?" He asked as they flew through the air at about five hundred miles per hour.

Josh nodded. "Yeah, I ran into her as I was going to get you guys. I told her that we were going to turn ourselves in and she agreed not to tell anyone," he replied.

"Awesome," Skylar said. He noticed the smile creeping up on Josh's face. "Something else happened didn't? Tell me!"

Josh felt himself begin to blush. "We may have kissed...twice," he admitted, unable to stop himself from smiling now.

"Nice, man!" Skylar said smiling. "What was it like? Kissing her I mean."

"It was great. I mean, I've kissed people before, but kissing her was unlike anything else," Josh told Skylar with a genuine smile on his face.

"She must be really special to ya, huh buddy?" Skylar said smiling at his best friend. "After hearing what you had gone through with that other girl I was hoping you would hit it off with Gemma."

"Well I think it's safe to say that we've hit it off. And it wouldn't have happened without you. Thanks, man. I appreciate it," Josh said.

"Consider me your wingman." Skylar said smiling and patting his shoulder.

"We're coming up on DC," Ester called from the cockpit.

Anna then whispered in Britt's ear. "We're here babe," she took Brittany's hand and held it tight.

Brittany opened her eyes, seeing that the plane was beginning to descend from the sky. She sat up in her seat and stretched a little bit to help wake herself up. "Everything's gonna be okay, Anna," she said, leaning in and kissing her girlfriend sweetly. "I'm gonna be here for you if you need me."

"I hope it will be babe." Anna whispered, smiling softly against her lips. They stood up and walked towards the door once Ester had landed the plane. They got off and Anna looked around them. "It's been an honor working with you guys." She said.

"Hey, don't say it like that. We're not going to die, okay? Sure, we might be turning ourselves into the evil dictator that's overthrown the whole government, but we're not gonna die," Skylar said to Anna.

"I know, but once we go in there it may be awhile before we see each other again." Anna said, looking down. "He's going to separate some of us, and I just want you all to know how much you mean to me. You guys are my family."

Josh nodded. "Anna's right. You guys are my family. I've never had this many close friends in my life, and I'm happy that I've gotten the chance to know you all over the past few months," he said.

"Let's hope we're not in there for long." Dale said before they all marched toward the capitol, Anna held Britt's hand tightly as they walked up the steps.

Once they reached the door, they were rushed by guards who threw them to the floor and cuffed them with their hands behind their back. They were forced into the building and were brought to the main hall, where they all saw Heinrick Francis sitting there waiting for them. "Ahhh, welcome."

The guards forced them all down onto the ground, their hands pinned behind their backs. "Looks like you all finally came to your senses and decided to turn yourselves in. I'm surprised. I would've thought for sure that you would have waited to try and launch another foolish attack," Heinrick said.

Anna glared at him, and so did Brittany who was being held on her knees next to Anna just like everyone else. "We weren't going to let you hurt anyone else you bastard!" Britt snapped, getting hit in the stomach with a baton, making her cry out in pain.

"Hey! You won't lay a finger on her!" Anna said. She was also hit with a baton, making her wince in pain.

"You will not speak unless I tell you to," Heinrick said glaring down at them before standing up and walking down to Brittany, lifting her head up with his hands so they were face to face. "Oh darling, it's good to see you again."

"I can't say the same about you," Brittany spat back, glaring at him with hatred in her eyes.

Heinrick chuckled at this. "Look at you. It's been so long since we last saw each other. I'm sure that you've been waiting for this moment for a long time."

"I have been, and I'm stronger than I ever was so don't tempt me." Brittany said, looking him straight in the eye.

"Such beautiful blue eyes," Heinrick said. His eyes stared into hers. "You just can't forget eyes like these." He said before turning to Anna, grabbing and forcing Brittany's head to look at Anna, causing the young girl to whimper pain. "Could ever forget these eyes Anna?" He said sadistically.

Anna didn't answer Heinrick's question, instead gazing into Brittany's eyes, trying to calm both her and the blonde down. Heinrick noticed this and he let go of Brittany's head, instead grabbing Anna's neck and bringing her up to stand on her feet. "You answer me when I talk to you. Got it?" He said. "I said, got it?"

Anna weakly nodded her head as she tried to pry his fingers away from her throat. "I couldn't ever forget her eyes," she answered truthfully. "They are the most beautiful eyes I've ever seen." She said looking over at Brittany.

A smirk played across Heinricks lips as he noticed the way the two girls looked at each other. "Well, well, well. Is this love we have here?" He said before walking down the line. "Something we all want is love, but unfortunately not all of us get it." He looked at each and every one of them. "You all did what I asked and I applaud you for that, but don't think for one second that gets you a free ticket. I won't harm anyone else besides you six. You all will pay for the damage you've brought upon my empire." He said, before turning to Brittany. "And this one will be the first to know what pain you are all about to endure. Take her away!"

Two of the guards grabbed Brittany by her arms and dragged her out of the room. "And if you even think of trying to help each other escape, or if you even think of trying to fight back, then everyone will suffer," Heinrick added as the guards took Brittany away.

"Britt! BRITTANY!" Anna called out, trying to break free from her guards to get to her, but it was no use. "Please, please don't hurt her! She's been through enough, don't do this!" She cried, tears streaming down her face. "Take me instead, I'll do it!"

"Anna, no!" Brittany called. "Anna, I love you! I love-" The doors were slammed as Brittany was dragged into another hallway, and her screams were distant noises. However they were still ringing loudly in Anna's brain.

"Oh, you'll get your chance Anna." Heinrick said. "You all will. But first, I'd like you all to see your families. Take them to the cells."

One by one, the guards escorted the remaining members of the group to the cells where their families were being held. Anna began crying again when she saw her parents. "Mom! Dad!" She called out. "It's me! I'm here!"

A weak and hungry Joan lifted her head and saw her daughter and Josh being brought towards them. "Anna?" She said crying out in joy when they released Anna and Josh from their handcuffs and threw them into the cell. "Josh! Anna!" She said rushing to them and hugging them tightly. "James it's our babies! Oh my god our babies are alive, they're alive! Praise God!"

"Oh my god, I can't believe it!" James said, embracing Anna tightly and rocking her back and forth in his arms. "You've grown up to be so beautiful, baby girl. I've missed you so much," he said, tears streaming down his face. He turned to his son and hugged him close. "And my son, you've grown to be so handsome and strong," James said as he held his daughter and son in his arms and they all joined in a huge group hug.

"I've missed you so much, mom. So much." Anna whispered, holding her mother close, crying when they pulled back from the hug and Joan smiled at her now grown up daughter, cupping Anna's cheeks. "I thought I'd never see you again after that day."

"I didn't think I'd see you again either, sweetie, but I'm so glad that I am seeing you now. You've grown up to be a beautiful young woman," Joan replied, smiling and embracing her daughter again. Anna held onto her mother, never wanting to let go. "But honey why are you here? Why did you two turn yourself into Heinrick? He's going to torture you." She said.

"We weren't going to let him kill you guys." Josh said. "We've been looking for you all these years and we weren't going to let him take you from us."

"We're just happy that you two are okay." James said before they all shared another hug. When they pulled away, James smiled. "I can only imagine the look on Lucas' face when he gets to see his sister, even under these conditions."

That name sound familiar to Anna, at the moment she couldn't remember why. "Who's Lucas?"

"He's the older brother of one of your friends. Brittany is her name I think. I could be wrong about the name, but I know that he hasn't seen his sister in a long time," James replied.

"Lucas is alive? Brittany said that he been killed at the camp." Josh said looking at Anna.

"He thought he was the only one of his family who had survived the camp. They brought him here after the time in camp because he was considered extremely dangerous. He didn't know his sister had made it out until the video that Heinrick had made." Joan said. "But he's very much alive."

Anna looked at her mother in shock. "Holy shit." She thought to herself before her mind went back to Brittany, who was being tortured at the moment.

Brittany meanwhile was dragged into a room and strapped into a chair tightly so she couldn't move. Heinrick swung the door open. "Well then, hello there Brittany Anne Snow. It's good to see you again, I've never forgotten those baby blues."

"Go to hell, Heinrick," Brittany said through gritted teeth.

Heinrick laughed. "I may be going there, but so will you and every single one of your friends. Now, speaking of your friends, why don't you tell me about that little girlfriend of yours?"

"I'm not going to tell you anything about her, and you better not hurt her." Britt said tugging at her restraint to no avail.

"You, her and her brother are going to get the worst of it." Heinrick said slamming his fist right beside Brittany's head. "Now, tell me about your girlfriend. Is she perfect to you? Does she sweep you off your feet and make you feel more alive than you've ever been? Tell me what you love about her, so I know what to ruin."

"She makes me happy, and no matter what you do, you'll never be able to take her away from me and you'll never be able to take me away from her," Brittany said.

"You'd be surprised at what I can do, Miss Snow." Heinrick whispered. "If she doesn't remember you, she isn't yours." His sadistic smile grew even wider. "And you'll be alone again. I bet you wish you hadn't turned yourself in now." A evil laugh left his lips. "Your brother Lucas will be happy to see you once I'm done with you."

"Lucas?" Brittany said, not sure if she had heard Heinrick right.

"Oh yes, Lucas. He's here and he's alive. But you won't get to see him if you refuse to answer my questions," Heinrick told her. "So tell me, what do you love about this outlaw Anna Kendrick so much."

Brittany tried to resist answering, when she didn't Heinrick pressed a button and it sent a powerful and painful shock to Brittany's body. "Answer me!" He then took out a knife. "Do you want another word carved into your skin? I can use plenty of words to describe you, you little wretch!"

Brittany remained silent, so Heinrick grabbed the blonde's arm and pressed the knife onto her skin, almost drawing blood. "I'm going to give you one last chance. Answer my question or you're getting another word carved into your skin, and this time your little girlfriend won't be here to save you."

The blonde took a deep breath, "I'm not saying anything." She said, tearing up as he grabbed her arm and carved a word along her forearm. This caused her to scream so loudly it could be heard from the cells.

Ten minutes later he was finally done with the word on her arm. It said "forgotten" and he dabbed it with a gauze as Brittany sobbed with painful tears streaming down her cheeks. "You didn't have to have this happen. Now you've been branded again. However, I'm not going to physically hurt you anymore. I'm going to do something far worse," he said.

Turning to one of the guards, he said "Bring in Anna Kendrick immediately." He then turned back to Brittany and smiled at her. "Now you'll have to watch your girlfriend go through twice as much pain because you couldn't answer my questions."

"Don't you dare touch her!" Brittany screamed at him. "I swear to god I'll kill you if you lay one harmful finger on her!"

"Oh well, maybe you should've thought about the consequences before you acted." Heinrick said.

Over in the cell with her parents, Anna was telling her mother and father about Brittany. How she had fallen in love with her and how Brittany was her girlfriend and that she wouldn't trade her for anything in the world. "She's truly my world mom," Anna said smiling to herself.

A piercing scream came through the vents and Anna stopped talking. "That's Brittany!" She said panicking. She got up and banged on the bars. "Stop! Don't you dare lay a finger on her!" She yelled.

Three guards then walked up to their cell. One opened the cell door while the other two grabbed Anna, pinning her arms behind her back. "Where are you taking me?" The brunette asked, trying to fight their grip.

"Heinrick has asked for you next," one of them answered as they lead her down the hallway.

They made it to the interrogation room where Anna saw Brittany in a chair strapped down with blood dripping from her arm. "What the hell did you do to her?" Anna snapped, stepping on one the man's feet and knocking the other two off of her before running to Brittany. "Brittany, babe. What did he do to you?" She said tearing up and looking at the word carved into her arm. "Britt-"

"Anna get out! Get out of here before he hurts you. He's going to hurt you, he's going to hurt you! You have to get out before he makes you forget me!" Brittany said crying as Anna cupped her cheeks.

"What? I could never forget you, Britt. What's going on?" Anna leaned in and kissed her before being pulled away from Brittany and slammed down into another chair.

Two of the guards held her down in the chair while the third tied her into the chair with some rope. Heinrick stood in front of her, chuckling as he watched the brunette struggle. "Just give up, Anna. You're not going anywhere."

"Don't you dare lay another finger on Brittany!" Anna yelled out, pulling at the restraints as Heinrick's men got Britt out of the electric chair and held her hands behind her back.

"Oh I'm not." Heinrick said with an evil smile plastered across his scarred face. "I'm going to make her watch me torture you. By the time I'm done with you, you won't remember her, she'll be a stranger to you. So I suggest you say your goodbyes before I change my mind." He said leaving them alone to go get the tools.

Anna turned to look at Britt, tears welling in her eyes. "I'm not going to forget you, Brittany." She said trying to reassure the love of her life. "I promise that I won't, I won't forget about you." Her voice shook with sadness as she looked at the blonde breaking down in tears in front of her.

Brittany didn't say anything. She just walked forward and hugged Anna, crying into the brunette's shoulder. A few minutes later, they were separated by the guards who sat Brittany down in a chair across the table from Anna. Heinrick returned a few moments later, and Anna looked at Brittany, reassuring the blonde that everything would be okay.

"Take a good long look at your girlfriend, Anna." Heinrick said, squeezing Anna's cheeks with his hand. "You won't be able to recognize her or remember her after we finish the procedure." He then turned to Brittany, gesturing for the guards to bring her over to Anna. "If there's anything you want to say to her, now would be the time you too."

Anna looked up at Britt, smiling sadly. "I'm not going to forget you," she whispered as Brittany stood there in front of her. "I love you, Britt. Forever."

Brittany opened her mouth to say that when Heinrick began to clap, pretending to wipe a few tears from his eyes. "That was so moving, but unfortunately your moment together is over. Guards, please restrain Miss Snow while we begin the procedure," Heinrick said.

The men started to drag Britt away from Anna, "NO! Please, please don't hurt her! Please I'll answer your questions, just let her go!"

"You had your chance to, but you didn't now it's time for her to suffer the consequences. Let's see if she loves you after this." He then used a small needle and drilled into Anna's head, causing the girl yell out in pain. "I'm accessing the part of her brain that stores short term memories," he explained. "To bad you weren't in her life sooner!" He said, drilling into Anna's skin again while multiple shocks came through to the chair to keep Anna from fighting the restraints.

Anna felt herself start to fall into unconsciousness as she was repeatedly shocked by the chair. She tried to hold her head up and look at Brittany, but her eyelids were beginning to grow heavier and heavier. After a few more shocks, her body was slumped over in the chair, and Heinrick chuckled to himself. "I thought you would be a lot stronger, Kendrick. It looks like I overestimated you. I was prepared to use a lot more electricity, which we might as well do now," he said, nodding towards the guard controlling the chair to signal that he should shock her again.

"Anna! Please, stop! Stop this!" Brittany screamed, trying to break free of the guards hold.

"Tell me to stop and she'll get it even worse!" Heinrick screamed before gesturing for the guard to turn off the chair. He then stood up from his chair, and walked over to Brittany. "This could've been avoided, but you defied my orders. And now, you're a stranger to her." He said. "Too bad lovely. Take Kendrick back to her family's cell and bring her brother. Take Miss Snow to see her brother." He then exited the room.

Two guards dragged Brittany out the room as she screamed for Anna, in tears before they threw into a dark cell. One guard brought the unconscious Anna to her family in their cell two hallways away from Brittany.

Joan, James and Josh looked up when they saw the door to their cell being opened. They then saw the guard was dragging Anna's body alongside him, and Joan felt all the color leave her face. "My god, what did you do to her?" She said, rushing over to her daughter and cradling her in her arms.

"She got what she deserved," the guard said before grabbing Josh. "You're next pretty boy." He said handcuffing Josh and taking him away.

Joan held her daughter in her arms, hoping and praying that she would wake up soon.

 **Oh shit... Things are pretty dark right about now. Will Anna be able to remember her friends, and most importantly will she be able to remember Brittany?**

 **One good thing came from this chapter though. After almost eighteen years of being separated from their parents, Anna and Josh were reunited! Let's hope Anna is okay, as well as all of their group of friends.**

 **Until next time!**


	19. Chapter 18: I Hope I Remember You

Chapter 18: I Hope I Remember You

Brittany was led down a hallway by two guards. The blonde was still in shock from what she had just witnessed. Tears fell down her face, but she was too shaken to fully cry. She looked down at the floor as the guards escorted her down the hall, stopping in front of one of the cells. One of the guards let go of her arm and opened the door of the cell, then they pushed her inside and shut the door behind her.

She lay there on the cold concrete floor crying silently, not able to do anything else. Britt needed to see Anna, she couldn't just sit there and wonder if the brunette remembered her. It was killing her inside. Then a familiar voice that she hadn't heard in a long time spoke up.

"Little sis?" Called out a male voice. "Britt, is that you?"

Brittany turned towards where the voice was coming from. She saw a figure standing in the corner of the room. "Hello?" She said, standing up and walking towards the person. Brittany gasped when the figure finally stepped out of the shadows. "Lucas!"

The tall man with dark brown hair and Britt's same blue eyes stepped out into the light. "Hey, Brittany." He said, tears welling up in his eyes as he saw his younger sister for the first time the internment camp three years ago.

The younger girl ran up and hugged her brother close. "Oh my god, I can't believe you're alive, Lucas! How did you get out of there? When did you get out of there?" Brittany said, now starting to cry again, although this time her tears were joyful.

"How did I get out of there? How did you get out of there? I thought you were dead." Lucas said wiping some of her tears.

"I thought you were dead too." Brittany said.

"I managed to get out before they brought me in for execution, it's a long story for another time. Right now I'm just so happy to know that I'm not alone." The twenty-five year old said, embracing his younger sister.

Brittany hugged Lucas back, closing her eyes and sighing with relief that her older brother was alive. She then remembered what had happened to Anna, and she started to get choked up again. "Lucas, h-he hurt Anna. He hurt her really bad."

"Is Anna one of the friends in you group?" Lucas asked as they pulled back from the hug.

"She's more than that." Brittany mentioned, letting tears fall a little fast now. "She's my girlfriend, and I love her more than anything in this world. And Hein-r-rick he-" Brittany paused and cried more. "He wiped her short term memories away. We haven't been together very long, he did this on purpose so she'd forget me."

Lucas embraced his sister tightly, letting her cry out her tears. "I'm so sorry that he did that, Brittany," he said in a soothing voice to try and calm her down.

"I can't lose her, and now I'm scared that I have. I have to see her." Brittany said, crying.

"The guards bring every prisoner out for dinner in the mess hall every evening, maybe you'll see her then." Lucas said, re-embracing his younger sister comfort her.

Meanwhile back in the Kendrick's cell, Anna was just beginning to wake up from the unconscious state she had been in because of the electric chair. Joan smiled sadly at her. "Hello sweetheart."

"Mom! It's been so long!" Anna said, getting up to hug her mother tightly. She then turned to see her dad and her eyes filled with joy. "Dad!" She said getting up and hugging him. "I thought I'd never see you again, oh my god I've missed you guys so much over all these years!"

James looked over at Joan nervously before embracing his daughter. "We've missed you too, sweetheart," he said, hugging Anna tightly. "Anna, can I ask you a question?"

"Yeah, ask me anything! Anything!" Anna answered with a smile at her parents. "I've missed you so much!"

"Can you tell us the last thing that you remember? You've been sleeping for a while, so it might not come to you easily, but can you remember what happened before you fell asleep?" Joan asked her daughter.

Anna looked around herself and saw the cell around them. "Well I don't really know how I got here. Last thing I remember was Josh and I were about to stop the Dover shipment. Did we stop it?" She asked. "Where are we?"

Joan and James looked at each other with sad eyes. Anna's memories from the last few months were completely gone. "Yes, you and your brother did stop the shipment. You actually stopped a few others as well. As for where we are, well…" James said, trailing off and looking over at Joan.

"Anna, I'm going to need you to stay calm when I tell you this, okay?" Joan said to her daughter.

"Okay," Anna said slowly, confused as to what her mother was going to say.

"We're in the Healers' main base in Washington, DC. We've been captured." Joan explained to her daughter.

"What? Why? How did this happen? Where's Josh?" Anna said, panicking a little bit inside.

"You and a group of friends that you've made recently were forced to turn yourselves in by Heinrick and his Healers. They threatened you, and you and your friends turned yourselves in." James said calmly.

"If all of that happened, then why can't I remember any of it?" Anna asked, looking at her parents. "I don't remember any of that stuff happening."

"Heinrick, he tortured you. He wiped most of your short term memories." Joan said. "We saw you before they took you in, this isn't our first meeting." She said, tearing up. "I'm going to kill that man if it's the last thing I do. No one messes with my family."

"Time for dinner!" One of the guards called out. "Line up everyone!"

Anna tried to stand on her own but she was too weak, so her mother and father helped her walk. They went up and were lead to the mess hall. Anna stood with her parents as they awaited the food, wincing in pain every now and then and leaning on them both for support.

Lucas and Brittany were the last two in the long line for the food. Brittany almost felt her heart stop when she saw Anna up ahead in the line. The brunette was leaning against two people, who Brittany realized were her parents. "That's her, Lucas. That's Anna," Brittany said, pointing to the brunette. Her heart broke at the state of brunette, having to lean on her parents because she was too weak to walk or even function on her own.

Her brother looked up towards the front of the line, and saw Anna. "Don't rush anything, you don't want to go one hundred percent because she may not remember you. Just, help her get some food."

Brittany nodded and slowly walked up to Anna and her parents, who were just about to get their food. "Hi, I'm Brittany," she said to Anna, Joan and James. "Do you guys need help with getting your food? It looks like she's not feeling too well," she said, looking at Anna.

Joan and James both looked at Anna and then each other before looking at Brittany. "Yes, thank you very much for your kindness." Joan said kindly.

The young blonde girl nodded and then got Anna a plate of green beans, mashed potatoes, and slices of grilled chicken. "Are you Brittany Snow, by any chance?" James asked.

Brittany nodded. "Yeah, that's me," she said to James. "Why do you ask?"

"You're in the group with Anna that turned yourself in. You're her girlfriend. She was talking about you before they took her in to torture her." Joan mentioned, looking at Anna who was zoned out as Brittany got her a warm roll of bread to put on her plate as well before sitting with her family as Lucas brought her and himself a plate with food to eat.

Brittany nodded, looking over at her girlfriend with a sad smile. "She doesn't even remember who I am, does she?" She said, turning back to James and Joan. The look that the two exchanged was enough to give the blonde her answer. "I don't want to rush anything, so I'm just going to try and help her with little things, as long as it's okay with you."

"Brittany, she may never remember. Some of the people we know who have gone through Heinrick's memory wipe never regain their memory." Joan said sympathetically. "Even if she does, it's going to take a very long time. But with that said, we will allow you to try and help her get her memory back."

"I'm going to do whatever I can to help her get her memory back," Brittany said solemnly. "She means the world to me, and it would absolutely kill me if she never remembers me or how much I love her."

"We'll help you in whatever way we can." James said. "But she may just have to get to know you again and fall in love with you again like she did before. Losing your memory doesn't mean you lose your feelings, you just have to get used to them again."

Brittany nodded, looking over at Anna, who had started to talk to Lucas. "I love her so much. She's my everything. Heinrick's already taken away almost all of my family. I can't bear to lose anyone else, especially not her."

"We'll help you make sure that you don't lose her Brittany." Joan mentioned.

"What is this place? Like, what goes on around here? Is Heinrick here?" Anna asked Lucas as she lifted the bread roll to her mouth and took a bite of it.

"Slow down with the questions, bud," Lucas said with a chuckle. "This is a Healer base. Not much really goes on here. There's a lot of just sitting around and waiting. And yes, Heinrick is here, but he usually doesn't hang out with us. I've never really gotten to walk around this place, but I assume that Heinrick has some sort of room where he stays most of the time."

"Is that blonde girl your sister? You two have the same eyes. How did you guys get here?" Anna asked curiously.

"Yes, that blonde girl is my sister. Her name is Brittany. My name is Lucas if you didn't know already," Lucas said to Anna. "And we got here at separate times. I've been here for quite a while, but Brittany just got here."

"I just got reunited with my family as well. My parents said some confusing things though. They said I turned myself in with a group of friends. I don't have friends except for my brother Josh." Anna stated, taking another bite of bread.

"I'm not your friend?" Lucas said, pretending to be offended. "It's okay, you've only known me for five minutes anyways," he added with a chuckle, making Anna laugh along with him. "Hey Britt, introduce yourself to Anna here." He said turning to his sister.

"Hi, Brittany." Anna said waving weakly as she took a bite of mashed potatoes. "I love mashed potatoes, so thank you for putting them on my plate."

"Oh, it's no problem at all," the blonde said with a friendly smile. "Who doesn't love mashed potatoes, anyways?"

"I know right? Crazy people don't like them if you ask me." Anna said smiling at her. She took a sip of water. "Your brother said you got here around the same time as me, what brings you to the above-ground version of Hell?"

Brittany laughed at Anna's words. The brunette had lost some of her memories, but she certainly hadn't lost her sense of humor. "It's a really long story. Let's just say that I'm not Heinrick's favorite person in the whole entire world," Brittany replied.

"I don't Heinrick has a favorite person, unless it's himself." Anna added with a chuckle.

"You're probably correct in assuming that." The young blonde chuckled and smiled at Anna, happy to see she was still her jokester self. Her heart was still broken inside at the thought that Anna may never remember her or what they had.

Lucas smiled as he watched the two interact. Even though he knew that Anna's memories had been wiped, the connection between the brunette and his sister was still there. He could tell that they had a natural chemistry, a chemistry that only certain people share with each other.

Anna smiled at Brittany. "It's nice to meet you, Brittany Snow." She said, slowly reaching her hand across the table since she could still hardly move. "I hope I get to talk to you and your brother more often. I could use some new friends, my brother is great but I only know like, four people here."

Brittany giggled a little bit, which made Anna's smile grow even wider for a reason she couldn't identify. "Yeah, I could use some new friends too. And I hope that I'll get to talk to you and your brother often as well. You guys seem like really nice people." The blonde couldn't show it, but she was secretly dying inside. Yes, it was nice to know that she and Anna were getting along, but all she wanted in that moment was to kiss the brunette and hold her tight.

They all continued to talk while they ate and once dinner was over they were escorted back to their cells. Josh was sitting in the Kendrick's cell with a plate of food. They rushed to his side. "Are you okay?"

"I'm alright mom, I'm fine." Josh said, a few bruises and cuts on his body. "They put me in the shock chair and questioned me, but I'm okay."

"Are you sure that you're okay, son?" James said, looking at all the injuries that Josh had. "It looks like they roughed you up pretty good."

"I've been their captive before and gotten much worse than this. Don't worry Dad, I'm alright." He said genuinely nodding his head as he ate his food. "You know, for a prison, this place has pretty decent food."

"You're right about that. The mashed potatoes and bread rolls are really, really good," Anna said to Josh with a smile. "Guess what, Josh! I made some friends while we were having dinner! Their names are Brittany and Lucas and they're both really nice."

"Anna, what are you talking about? You already kn-" Josh was cut off by Joan who shook her head. He then looked at his sister, "That's great Anna, I'm happy for you." He said smiling at his sister. "I can't wait to meet them."

"They really want to meet you too! We can even all hang out together sometimes! It's going to be so much fun," Anna said with an excited smile.

"If they allow hang out time here." Josh said chuckling a little.

"I'm going to get some sleep, I'm still really sore from whatever happened to me." Anna said before laying down on the cot.

After an hour Anna had fallen sound asleep, and Josh turned to his parents. "Why doesn't she remember Brittany?"

"When they took her away, Heinrick used the electrical chair on her to basically sedate her while he wiped her short-term memories. She doesn't remember anything that has happened in the last few months. The last thing she remembers is you two stopping the Dover shipment," Joan replied.

"Shit, that was before we even met anyone else, including Brittany." Josh said turning to his sleeping sister. "I swear to god, Heinrick keeps on giving me so many reasons to kill him." He said setting his jaw. "He will pay for what he's done. Not just to Anna but to everyone."

"We can't try to do anything right now. If we do anything, then he'll torture us all," Joan said, "I know you won't like this, but we have to stay put. Hopefully we can figure out some sort of plan to escape from here in the meantime."

Josh reluctantly nodded because he knew his mother was right. "Alright, I'm going to get some rest."

Over in Lucas and Brittany's cell, Brittany was sitting on her cot staring blankly ahead of her. "She doesn't remember me," she said multiple times.

"Heinrick did wipe out all her short-term memories, but there's still some part of her that remembers you. She just hasn't realized it yet, but she will come around eventually," Lucas said, trying to encourage his sister and cheer her up.

"What if she doesn't Lucas? What if this whole thing is hopeless and she never remembers me? Did you ever think that that might be a possibility? She could never remember me and I'd be devastated." She said running her hands through her hair.

"Don't worry, Brittany. That's not going to happen. You're the most determined person I know. If anyone's going to help Anna regain her memories, it's you," Lucas told her.

Britt looked up at her brother and then got up and hugged him. "I missed having an older brother." She said hugging him tightly.

"I missed having a younger sister," Lucas replied, smiling and hugging his little sister back. "It's been far too long since I saw you last."

"Far too long." Brittany said smiling gently and sniffling a bit before pulling back from the hug.

"Tell me about Anna." He said smiling at her before they sat down on her cot. "I need to know my sister's girlfriend before I approve of her, it's an older brother's duty."

Brittany smiled at the thought of Anna. "Do you want me to tell you everything? Because it might be hours of listening to me talk if that's the case," she said.

"I want to know all about her sis, even if it takes all night." Lucas said, smiling at her. "It also may help find a way to somehow jog her memory."

Brittany smiled, then took a deep breath. "It's really hard to describe the way she makes me feel. She just makes me feel so happy and safe and loved. I mean, I guess I just described it," the blonde said with a giggle. "But I just-I don't know. She just means so much to me that it's hard to find the right words to say it."

"Well, does she make you laugh? Is she kind to you and does she bring out the best in you?" Lucas said, trying to get more out of his sister. It was cute to see her all flustered like this. "Does she have certain physical features that attract you?"

"I can't even remember what the first question that you asked was," Brittany said with a laugh. "But yes, she is kind to me. She wasn't when we first met, though. We met because she and her brother and our friends Dale and Skylar were camping out in the woods, and I may or may not have tried to attack her." Brittany held her hands up when Lucas laughed. "Hey, I thought she was a Healer! I was just defending myself!"

"Okay, okay I believe you." Lucas said smiling and chuckling at his sister. "Tell me more. It's nice to see that you've been happy with her."

"I've never been happier with anyone else, Lucas. I've never been happier. Not even with Hadley," Brittany said to him. "I think...I think she's the one for me," she said, her voice getting softer when she said the last sentence.

Lucas smiled at how genuine Brittany was when she said this, just the look on her face was enough to tell that Anna was more than just love. She was Brittany's one and only, her true love. "So I guess we better find a painless and effective way to get her memory back, she must mean a lot to you if you believe that she's the one for you."

Brittany nodded at Lucas' words. "She means more to me than anything else in the world. She's the one person who's helped to keep me sane during all of this. I can't lose her, Lucas, I can't."

"And you won't, we're going to get her back to you. No matter how long it takes Brittany, we will bring her back to you. You won't lose her, I promise you that." Lucas said, taking her hand and squeezing it. "Then once we're out of here, maybe you can find me a girlfriend." He teased.

Brittany laughed at Lucas' words. "Yeah, I guess I can help find you a girlfriend once we get out of this place," the blonde said with a smile.

"We will get out of here Britt, and we will get your Anna to remember." Lucas said smiling at his sister and putting his arm around her. "Now, get some sleep."

"Okay. You get some sleep too, big brother," Brittany said, closing her eyes and leaning up against Lucas.

"I will sis, I will." He said smiling moving over to his cot, laying down and looking at the ceiling. He then closed his eyes and fell asleep.

The next morning, the guards woke up the prisoners around 6:00 and gave them 15 minutes to get ready before they went to breakfast. Anna was still exhausted, although she felt a lot stronger than she did yesterday. The brunette still leaned on Josh for help when they walked to the mess hall, but she had started to become more independent.

Brittany and Lucas were sitting at the table, holding seats for Anna and her family. "What should I try and talk about today?" Brittany asked as she took a bite of sausage. "I've tried to think of something but I can't."

"Maybe just ask her how her day is going. You're good at making casual conversation. Just make her feel like she's welcome," Lucas replied.

The younger girl nodded and then smiled and waved at Anna as she and her family walked over and joined them. "Hey, Brittany." Anna said smiling kindly as she let her parents help her sit down. "How's your morning going?"

The blonde smiled when she sat down across from her at the table. "Hey Anna. My morning's going well, so far. How's yours going?" The blonde replied.

"Well I feel a little stronger after a good night's sleep. If you can call sleeping on that pathetic excuse for a bed a good night's sleep." Anna said, making Brittany and everyone around them chuckle. "I still can't believe that it's been like six months since the Dover shipment. I really can't remember anything that happened after that, but hopefully I'll be able to remember soon."

"I'm sure that you'll regain your memory, Anna. I believe in you," the blonde said, looking into the brunette's deep blue eyes as she said that.

The brunette held Brittany's gaze. "Thanks. I hope that you're right. Not being able to remember half a year of my life feels really weird."

"I bet it is," Lucas said, making his way into the conversation.

"I honestly just thought they captured us after the Dover shipment and brought us here and that's when I woke up. But apparently I have like four other friends who I stopped more shipments with. I don't remember any of that, though. Not even the faces of the people." Anna said, shrugging and taking a sip of coffee.

Brittany smiled sadly at Anna's words. It was going to be harder to get the brunette to remember her than she had originally thought. Despite this, Brittany wasn't going to give up. "All of those memories will come back over time. I don't think they'll all come back at once. You'll probably just start to remember little things," Brittany said.

"Yeah, don't worry about it too much." Lucas said sympathetically. "You've been through a lot, it's a miracle that you're alive. You're a living miracle."

"Well I wouldn't say that but thanks." Anna said smiling at the both them. "There are people here who've probably survived much worse than I have."

"We've all been through a lot here. Whether you've gone through more or less than someone else doesn't change the fact that you've overcome an obstacle," Lucas said to Anna. "We've all had to face our demons, but we all don't have the same demons."

"Wow," Anna said smiling. "Have you ever considered becoming a philosopher?" She asked, making their table laugh again. "Seriously though, have you ever thought about it? That was deep."

Lucas shrugged his shoulders. "It's not even my saying. It's just something that I've heard while I've been here. It's helped me get through every day, though. It gives me another reason to keep going, to keep fighting," he said.

"I think Anna's right Lucas," Brittany said smiling. "When all this is over you should consider that philosopher. It may come in handy, you could go and speak at the biggest venues. And you'd tell people to keep fighting because things do get ready."

Lucas chuckled a little bit. "Well, you two are certainly very keen on planning out this whole philosopher thing," he said. "Hey, maybe you two could be my managers. You know, you could book all of my talks at the venues and stuff. What do you say?"

"Eh, I'll have to think about it." Anna said in a joking tone.

Later that day they were let out into a courtyard to have some fresh air. Anna was sitting on a bench looking at some of the people playing basketball.

Brittany was watching Lucas play basketball with some of the other guys when she saw Anna sit down on a nearby bench. The blonde stood up and walked over to her. "Hey. Mind if I sit with you?" She asked.

"Not at all, have a seat." Anna said before patting the spot on the bench next to her. "How come you aren't out playing with them? I bet you could kick their ass."

Brittany shook her head. "Basketball has never really been my game. Besides, I'd rather hang out with you than be around those sweaty guys," Brittany said with a laugh.

"Oh, cool." Anna said smiling at her and then turning to see Josh dunk the basketball. They sat there for a moment, not saying anything else for a minute or two. Anna then spoke up and looked over at Britt. "I have a question." She said. "You and your brother look pretty similar, is he your twin?"

Brittany shook her head. "Nope, he's got a couple years on me. Why do you ask?" The blonde said out of curiosity.

"You guys have the same eyes and nose," Anna said, looking at Brittany and then at her brother, before looking back at Brittany. "Your eyes are so blue, it's almost insane." She said chuckling. "But both and you and your brothers eyes are unforgettable, I'll bet I'll always be able to recognize you because of your eyes."

Brittany smiled at Anna's words. "Yeah, I get that a lot from people. They always seem to think that my eyes are my best feature," she said with a little giggle.

"They are quite a sight." Anna said smiling when the brunette giggled. She like the blondes laugh, and her giggle was adorable. "If the last six months of my life weren't wiped away, would I remember you? Would I know you?" She asked suddenly.

Brittany bit her lip and looked down. "Y-yeah, you would remember me. At least I hope you would," the blonde said, looking back up at Anna.

"It's really odd that I don't remember you. Your face isn't one I think I would forget." Anna said. "How would I remember you? Were you in that group with me that turned ourselves in?"

Brittany nodded. "Yeah, I was in the group along with your brother and a few other people. We've known each other for a couple months now," the blonde answered.

"Huh," Anna said, scrunching her eyebrows and closing her eyes as if she was trying to remember Brittany. "Do we get along?"

"Well, when we first met we didn't really get along, but we do now," Brittany said with a little smile as she recalled when she and Anna first met.

"That's good, I wouldn't want to not get along." Anna said, tucking her hair back. "Do you think people will come and rescue us?"

"I hope so," Brittany said, looking up at the sky above them. "I really hope that we get out of this place soon. We've already been here far too long."

"I agree, I don't think I could take another torture session. According to my brother that's why I can't remember anything that's happened in the last half year of my life; it also seems to be the reason why I can't function normally right now." Anna mentioned, wincing a little as she resituated herself on the bench.

"It'll get better, Anna. But don't try to rush things. It would be best if you just relaxed and let yourself recover without trying to push yourself too hard. You'll heal up and you'll regain your memories. I know you will," Brittany said, offering a friendly smile to the brunette.

"That's nice to hear from someone other than my mother." Anna said chuckling. "It gives me a little more faith in myself, so thanks Britt. People call you Britt right?"

"Yeah, people have always called me Britt. My parents first started doing it, and then it caught on and became my official nickname," Brittany said. "Do you have a nickname that some people use?"

"I mean, my brother has called me 'shorty' or 'asshole' my entire life." Anna laughed at the memory. "But Anna is such a short name you can't really have a nickname."

"Yeah, I guess you have a point. Some people refer to me by my last name, too. Sometimes I'll overhear people talking about snow and think that they're talking about me," Brittany said, laughing a little bit.

"That is pretty funny," Anna mentioned with a smile on her face.

The guards began to gather everyone up since their half an hour outside was over. Anna turned to Brittany, "I hope we get the chance to talk more Britt, and I really hope that I remember you more and more as the days go by." She said waving before getting up and walking over to her family, heading back inside.

Brittany waved back at Anna before she got up and walked over to Lucas, who had just finished up his game of basketball. "Hey," the blonde said, smiling at her brother. "How did the game go? I watched bits and pieces of it, but it looked like your team was doing good."

"It was pretty good, mom and dad always used to say that if times were different that I could've played professionally." Lucas said, using his shirt to wipe the sweat off of his forehead back on as they walked inside towards their cell.

"You definitely could've played pro ball." Brittany said smiling.

"If the whole philosophy thing doesn't work out, then maybe I can get some people to start a basketball league," Lucas joked as they walked back towards the main building. "I saw you talking to Anna, how was that?"

"You know, it was pretty nice. She told me things she remember before six months ago, but she mentioned everything up until now was completely dark." Brittany said, sighing and looking at the ground for a moment. "Still, it was nice getting to talk her. I wish I was holding her hand and snuggling together with on the bench, not sitting on opposite ends. It's killing me not being able to be with her right now. I thought that there was no way Heinrick could make me hate him more, but I was wrong."

"You'll get your revenge eventually, Britt. For right now, let's just get through each day and try not to piss off Heinrick even more. Who knows what else he'll do if someone crosses him," Lucas said.

"I know, I'm not going to anything stupid. I just hate the fact that I'm in love with Anna and she doesn't even remember she loves me. Heinrick, he's just so cruel." Brittany said, sitting on the cot and wiping away a tear that fell from her eyelid.

"I can't help but wonder what his motive is," Lucas said, sitting down on the cot beside Brittany. "I mean, there's that belief where if someone is a bully, then they must have been bullied themselves. I wonder what, or who, would make Heinrick do all these cruel things."

"It doesn't really matter at this point what his motive was, he has control over almost the entire world." Brittany said running her fingers through his hair. "He kills for fun now, anyone who doesn't share his belief system is either in concentration facilities, or dead."

"I'm sure that he doesn't have everyone imprisoned. Sure, there's not many people left out there, but there has to be some. And maybe those people will be the ones that come rescue us from this hellhole," Lucas said, trying to maintain a positive attitude.

"There are people out there, that's where Anna, me and the others came from." Brittany said. Then a lightbulb appeared on her head. "Oh my god, it's been at least 36 hours since we've gone. Surely they've noticed we left, if we can get a signal or an S.O.S out somehow, we could get everyone out of here."

"That's a good idea, but how are we going to do that? Heinrick has this place on lockdown pretty much every second. We'd have to get the signal out without being noticed by the guards, which is also going to be hard to do considering that there are so many of them," Lucas said.

"Yes, you're right about that. But none of them are out in the courtyard during that half an hour outside." Brittany mentioned. "While I was talking to Anna I couldn't help but notice that, plus, the cameras are so few out there we could send some sort of signal. The main base isn't really hard to find, they just have to know we're here." She said smiling at her brother.

Lucas paused and thought about what Brittany had just said. "Alright, doing it outside would probably be our best bet. But what kind of signal would we send?"

"That's the part I'm still working on. My friend Skylar is really good with all sorts of gadgets and things, maybe he can figure something out." Brittany said, laying down on her cot.

"I would suggest lighting a fire, but that's kind of basic. Plus, the guards would smell the smoke and figure out that something was burning before the smoke really got high enough to be a signal," Lucas replied.

Brittany's face lit up, "Dale has a flare gun, we could send up a couple flares. They reach so high they can be seen for hundreds of miles, if not thousands."

Lucas smiled at his younger sister. "Now we're talking," he said, holding his hand up so Brittany could give him a high five. "Maybe I could create some sort of distraction so that Dale can shoot off a flare without the guards noticing."

"We're going to get out of here." Britt said smiling with relief. "I have a feeling that we're going to get out of this god forsaken place." Britt sighed happily.

"Me too. Now all we need to do is talk to Dale about the plan, and I can see if I can get some of the other guys to help me with the distraction. And then we'll be a step closer to getting out of here," Lucas said, smiling as well.

Back in the Camp's cell, Dale was spending some quality time with her two sisters Jane and Maggie, and her father, Albert. It had been three years since they had seen each other so there was a lot of catching up to do.

"I still haven't fully processed the knowledge that you guys are alive. I never thought I'd see you again," Dale said with a smile as she sat next to her sisters. "How did you guys get out of the camp?"

"You're going to find this hard to believe, but the guards and leaders at that camp let us out. They let the whole population of the camp out." Albert said, sitting down next to his daughters. "It was like they were sick of Heinrick's ways and just, decided to set us free. We were very lucky, we only got caught a few days ago."

"Wow. That's pretty impressive," Dale replied. "Me and my friends came here voluntarily, and even though we've only been here for a day, I feel like we've been here far too long."

"I know, we need to get everyone out of here. No one is safe as long as they're here." Jane mentioned, putting her hair up in a ponytail.

"We need to come up with some plan to get out of here." Maggie said, leaning back against the wall. Maggie was the youngest in the family, only seventeen. But she was one of the smartest people that you could ever meet.

Dale leaned back against the wall of the cell. "If we all work together, I think that we would be able to come up with some sort of plan to get us all out of here," the blonde said.

"Out of your friends, who's the strongest would you say?" Albert asked sitting beside his eldest daughter.

Dale shrugged. "I mean, they're all strong in different ways. Josh and Anna are definitely strong when they work together. They have an unbreakable bond. Brittany's the most driven person in the group, in my opinion. The Healers took everything from her, and she uses her want for revenge as her motivation. I don't think anyone in the group is really 'weak,'" Dale answered.

"What about that boy you're with? Skylar is his name right? What's his strength?" Maggie asked.

"He's probably the smartest person in our group. He usually comes up with most of our strategies." Dale said smiling to herself as she thought of Skylar.

Maggie noticed the smile that suddenly appeared on her older sister's face while she was talking about Skylar. "You must really like him, huh?" She observed.

"Yeah, I love him." Dale said blushing a little before shaking her head. "But he is the smartest, ask any of the others. Ester is our most resourceful person, and her boyfriend is probably the wisest."

"Well it sounds like you and your group of friends compliment each other pretty well," Albert said. "How long have you known them?" He asked.

"About six months now." Dale said smiling. "They're pretty amazing. There isn't anything I wouldn't do for them. Just like I'd do anything for you guys."

Jane, Maggie and Albert all smiled at Dale's words, nodding in agreement. "I'm glad that you've found some good friends, Dale," Jane said. "Good people are hard to come by these days."

"You're telling me." Maggie said smiling.

That night at dinner Brittany came up to Dale. "Do you somehow still manage to have that flare gun?"

"Uh, yeah," the blonde replied with a confused look on her face. "Why do you ask?"

"Lucas and I were talking and we came up with a plan to send word to Terry and Greg. They know we're here and they aren't just going to leave everyone hostage here." Brittany said. "The boys could create a distraction tomorrow during the outdoor hour."

"Alright. So while Lucas and the other guys create a distraction, we set off the flare gun?" Dale said. Brittany nodded, and the blonde thought for a few moments. "I'll bring the gun tomorrow along with a few extra flares in case something goes wrong," she added.

"Good idea." Brittany said nodding in agreement.

"How are things with Anna coming along?" Dale asked, getting some food as she stood by Britt in line.

"Uh, well. We talked for most of the outdoor hour today." Brittany said, putting some green beans on her plate and then some potato wedges.

"It's good that you guys are getting to know each other again. I've noticed that she smiles a lot when you're around. That must be a good sign," Dale said.

"It doesn't mean that she remembers anything. It just means that I make her smile. I know it's going to take a long time, but I want her back." Brittany said sighing deeply. "Is that selfish of me?"

Dale shook her head. "No, it's not selfish of you at all. We all want her back. We just have to be patient and help her along the way, and then she'll come back to us."

"I really hope you're right about that. I couldn't bare to lose anyone else, especially Anna." Brittany said, getting some ham on her plate.

"I know everyone's saying this, but you won't lose her, Britt," Dale said as they finished putting the food on their plates and walked over to a table and sat down.

Soon, Anna and her family came and sat with them, as well as Skylar and Lucas and Ester and Meleike. "Hey, it's nice to see everyone together again." Josh said with a smile.

"Can I sit here?" Anna asked Brittany sweetly.

"Of course you can sit here, Anna. You don't need to ask," Brittany replied, smiling and gesturing for the brunette to sit in the seat next to her.

"Thanks." Anna said smiling at the blonde as she sat down. "I just wanted to be sure no one was sitting here already. How are you?" She asked, taking a bite of bread.

"I'm doing well. How are you, Anna?" Brittany asked, cutting up a piece of the ham on her plate before eating it.

"I'm alright. Not much has changed since we were sitting together outside," She said with a chuckle. "I really hate it here though, Josh and I were thinking of planning an escape. Apparently my aunt and uncle who I thought were dead have a base about four hundred and fifty miles from here."

"Yeah, they do have a base. We were there for a while before we came here," Brittany said, looking at Anna.

"Who's we again?" Anna asked, sipping her water before taking another bite of her food as she looked around their table.

"Me, you, Josh, Dale, Skylar, Ester and Meleike," Brittany replied, the people around the table nodding towards Anna when they heard their name called.

"Okay, Josh also mentioned that Meleike and Ester are together as well as Skylar and Dale. Are Josh and you a couple?" Anna asked.

Brittany shook her head with a little chuckle. "No, Josh and I aren't a couple. Josh is sort of with a girl named Gemma who is back at your aunt and uncle's base. It's nothing official but we all know he wants to get in her pants"

"Hey!" Josh said chuckling. "My affections spreads far beyond trying to get in Gemma's pants." He said pointing at Brittany who held her hands up in the defense.

"So are we the only two who aren't with anyone?" Anna asked, making Britt turn her head back to Anna, figuring out how exactly to answer the next question.

"Umm," Britt started. "No, actually neither of us are single." She said, mentally facepalming herself her answer.

Anna tilted her head to the side with a confused look in her face. "What do you mean?" She asked. "I don't recall having a girlfriend when I met you."

"Um well, I don't really know how to explain it. But it's-" Brittany looked at Josh and he shook his head. Brittany was confused by why Josh did this, but she made up a simple lie anyways. "But I had a girlfriend who died awhile back and I'm seeing a girl back at the base, her name is Sam." She said, mentally slapping herself again as she said that, knowing how much she disliked Sam.

Anna felt a little bit of disappointment hit her when Brittany said she was seeing someone back at the base, but she pushed away that feeling. "So if you're dating Sam, then who am I dating?" The brunette asked.

"Uhh one second." Brittany said gesturing for Josh to get up and follow her to the corner of the room. "Okay, would you like to fucking explain why I can't tell her that it's me she's seeing me? Why did I have to lie to her? In case you haven't noticed, I had to fucking watch her memory get erased. She doesn't even remember me anyways, why would it hurt to tell her we're together? Please enlighten me on how lying or withholding the truth from her is helping this situation?" She said crying and letting a few tears drop.

Josh sighed. "I don't know if it would hurt to tell her, but you agreed to take things slow with her, remember? We basically need to spoonfeed little bits of information to her. Overloading her brain right now wouldn't be a good thing to do. A better time to tell her the truth would be once we get out of this place," he said to Brittany.

"Well you could've stopped me from saying that to her, now when the time comes when I do tell her about our relationship, she's going to think I'm lying." Brittany said, sighing and wiping her tears. "I've already lost so much, Anna's not going to want to be with someone who lies to her. I've ruined it." She said tearing up more before sniffling.

"I'm sorry, I should've just said something to stop the conversation." Josh said, feeling bad as Brittany cried in front of him.

"I'm not hungry anymore. I'm gonna go back to my cell." Brittany said, turning and walking away.

Josh sighed to himself again and then walked back to the table, sitting down next to a confused-looking Anna. "Where did Brittany go?" His younger sister asked him when he sat down.

"She wasn't hungry," Josh said, taking a sip of water.

"Is she okay?" Anna asked.

"Yeah-" Josh started and then a loud boom shook the building. "What the hell was that?"

 **Let's hope Anna's memory come back soon. Do think the big boom sound was Terry and Greg coming to sace them with the rebels?**

 **keep reading to find out!**

 **Until next time!**


	20. Chapter 19: Rescue

Chapter 19: Rescue

"What the hell was that?" Josh said as they all held the table for support.

"I don't know, but where is Brittany?" Anna asked, looking around for the blonde. "We have to go find her and make sure that she's

okay."

"She said she was going back to her cell, so we should look there first," Josh said, standing up.

Britt felt the blast and nearly lost her footing. "Shit." Britt said, hitting her knee against a sharp edge of the wall. She made it back to her cell and groaned in pain from her knee, which didn't help after having to tell Anna that she was with Sam.

Anna and Josh made it through the doors leading to the cells before they were stopped by two guards. "Hey! Where do you guys think you're going? All prisoners are to stay in the cafeteria!" One of them called out.

Another blast shook the building and the four of them held the wall to keep their balance. "Listen, our friend is back there. All we're asking is to make sure she's okay." Josh said.

The two guards looked at each other, then back to Anna and Josh. "What does your friend look like? We'll go to the cells and escort her back here. If Heinrick saw you roaming about then we all would be punished," the second guard told them.

"She's blonde, about 5 foot 4." Josh described. "Wavy blonde hair and blue eyes. Her name is Brittany."

"Please make sure she's okay." Anna said, worried for the girl's safety.

"We'll get her back here safely. Don't worry," they said before they turned away and walked down the hallway towards the prison cells.

Anna hummed for a second. "Huh," she said. "I thought they wouldn't care for a prisoners' well-being."

"I think that everyone here feels a sense of solidarity with our hatred for Heinrick. I can't imagine that he treats his soldiers much better than he treats us," Josh said.

"That's really interesting, if they are treated so badly by him why would they still work for him?" Anna said holding the wall as they felt another shake and heard another explosion.

"Heinrick may have threatened them and their families. They may be doing this to save their families. Like we did when we turned ourselves in." Josh said, making sure he was close to Anna in case she lost her balance.

"Huh," Anna said, thinking about what Josh had said. "I guess that does make sense. That's probably why most of them aren't overly cruel to us. They're just doing what Heinrick tells them to do because they want to go back to their families."

Meanwhile the guards were calling out for Brittany. "Brittany?! Brittany!" One called out. "We're not going to hurt you, were just trying to find you!"

Brittany sat there in pain, her knee bleeding from hitting the corner of the wall. She hid back trying to not be seen by the guards. "We were sent by two of your friends Anna and Josh to get you out." The guards got to Brittany's cell and opened the door.

"How do I know that you're telling the truth?" The blonde asked the guards, reluctant to trust them.

"Because even though we work for Heinrick, he will punish you if he finds you wandering alone." The other guard said. "And from what we've heard, you've been through too much."

Brittany was still skeptical, but she realized that there wasn't much time for her to stall as the building shook once again, some dust falling from cracks in the ceiling. "Alright," the blonde said, using the wall to help her stand up. "I don't know if I can walk on my own."

The two guards came over. "We will help you," one of them said. They put her arms around their shoulders, and they hurried her back to the mess hall.

Everything had fallen into chaos as another big boom sound shook the entire base. The guards struggled to keep the prisoners calm as sirens and alarms started to go off. "Everyone, we need you to stay calm and stay in this room! We are safe here!" The guards started to yell out.

Anna looked over at Brittany and ran over to her. "Are you okay? What happened to your knee?" She said noticing the blood trickle down the blonde's knee.

"I hit it on a wall corner during the first round of explosions." Brittany said. Anna helped the two guards bring Brittany to a place to sit down.

"Thank you guys." Anna said genuinely. "What are your names?" The first guard told them that his name was Jason, and the second said his name was Jared. "Thank you for helping us, Jason and Jared. I know that by helping us you both took a huge risk, and we really appreciate it," Anna said to them.

"To be honest we're only here to protect our families because we were threatened by that moated Heinrick." Jared mentioned. "We don't want to hurt anyone, we just want to keep our families safe."

"Well thank you, it's much appreciated." Brittany said. She then saw a group of people with guns, lead by Sam and her sister Gemma.

"Anna! Josh! Brittany!" Sam called out, running towards the three of them with Gemma following close behind her.

"Who's that?" Anna asked Brittany as the two girls ran towards them.

"That's uhhhh, that's Sam and Gemma." Brittany said sheepishly, closing her eyes in both pain and sorrow to have to say that.

"Sam as in your girlfriend?" Anna asked, frowning a little bit when Brittany nodded. "And Gemma is your girlfriend, Josh?"

"Ummm well I like her and all, it's not really official yet." Josh said before Gemma came running into Josh's arms.

"Thank god you're alright." Gemma whispered. "Let's get you all out of here!"

"Wait, you need to tell Sam that Anna doesn't remember anything. And that she and Brittany are well, together for now." Josh said. "I'll explain everything later."

Gemma gave Josh a weird look but did as he said, leaning over and whispering to Sam. Sam looked at Gemma and then at Josh before she went to Brittany and hugged her tightly. "I'm so happy that you're okay, Britt," she said.

Britt cringed but hugged Sam back. "You put yourself in danger coming to get me, Sam." She whispered before pulling back.

"You're worth the risk, now we have to get out of here. Get everyone else we're bringing with us." Sam said, kissing Britt on the cheek before helping her up.

Anna looked away when Sam kissed Brittany's cheek, feeling a pang of jealousy hit her. Josh noticed this and knew that at some point he and Brittany would need to tell her the truth, but now wasn't the time considering that the base was falling apart around them. "Everyone! If we're all going to get out of here, we need to go now!"

Sam helped Brittany and so did Lucas. Josh got his parents and met the rest of their group towards their exit, a bit hole in the wall from the explosion. Skylar and Dale were helping their families towards the plane that would be getting them out of there. Josh looked back at Jared and Jason, waving for them to come along as the rest of the prisoners broke out.

The prisoners ran towards the plane, which they could easily see because of its lights. "It's not much farther now! Keep running!" Lucas called out, looking behind him to make sure that everyone was keeping up with them. The fifty prisoners in the high security made it to the plane along with Anna, Britt, Sam and everyone else. Even Jared and Jason made their way onto the plane.

Once the plane took off, they watched the main building explode and they made their way into the air, safe and sound. Sam was wrapping Britt's leg. "Why are we a couple again?" She asked Britt, who winced a little as Sam taped her knee. "You hate me."

Brittany looked over her shoulder, seeing that Anna and her family were towards the back of the plane. "Anna was tortured by Heinrick and lost all of her memories from the last few months as a result of it. We didn't want to tell her everything right away, so I had to lie about her and I being together and I told her that you and I were dating," Brittany said in a quiet voice.

"And why me?" Sam asked making sure it was tight enough to stop Brittany from bleeding.

"I panicked, Josh told me not to tell her we were together because she had already been told a lot for one day. He said it could overwhelm her. But before I could ask that I told Anna you and I were dating." Brittany said wincing at the right bandage. "I promise it won't be that long that we have to do this, please just do this for me, I don't know what else to do right now."

Sam nodded. "Yeah, I'll do it. But you have to promise me that you'll tell Anna the truth soon. She doesn't deserve to be lied to, even if it's for her benefit."

"It will be coming soon, I just hope she believes me after I tell her that this whole thing between you and me is just a setup." Brittany said bringing her leg back to the ground. "She's probably never going to trust me again, then I will have really fucked up."

"She'll trust you again. She'll remember how much she loves you, and then she won't be able to resist you at all. She'll trust you again, Britt. It might take some time, but she will," Sam told her.

Britt nodded and then looked at Anna, noticing her looking this way. "Do think she remembers?" Britt asked Sam. "Like, is there a part of her that knows something's not right about this?" She said, as Sam sat next to her. She played her part well and rest rested her hand on Britt's leg, linking their fingers together.

"Well, I noticed her look away when I kissed your cheek earlier, so obviously she doesn't like it. She might not realize that it's because you and I aren't actually together, but I think she's starting to slowly remember," Sam replied.

"Maybe the more couply we are around her, the more she will try and remember." Brittany said. "And I know you'd rather be couply with her, but we may have to hold hands and kiss to get her to remember." She said, cringing at the thought.

Sam nodded. "Whatever it takes to get her to remember. I just want to get the old Anna back, even though I can't be with her. She loves you and she always will, and I've accepted that."

"Okay, thank you." Britt said, squeezing Sam's hand and smiling genuinely. She then saw Anna looking over their way out of the corner of her eye. "Shit, she's looking this way. Should we do something?"

"I don't know. Maybe we just keep talking? We're already holding hands, so that should be enough unless Anna keeps watching us," Sam said, taking a quick peek back at the brunette.

"I feel so disloyal right now," Britt murmured, leaning her head on Sam's shoulder. She closed her eyes and sighed. "I'm going to kill Heinrick slowly and painfully." She said.

"We all want to do that. Hopefully we'll get another chance at that soon," Sam said, looking down at the floor of the plane.

Anna looked over at Sam holding Brittany and glared. Why she was feeling this way she didn't know, but she wanted to be there holding Britt's hand. "I don't think Anna is too happy." Sam said chuckling.

Brittany turned around, seeing the look on Anna's face. Brittany bit her lip, saddened by the brunette's expression, but she turned away again, still leaning her head on Sam's shoulder. "I feel terrible, why did I panic? Why did I lie instead of just waiting to tell her?"

"I don't know, I guess you just weren't sure how to dodge the question." Sam said kissing the side of her head gently.

Brittany sighed. "I hate having to pretend like this," the blonde murmured, running her fingers through her hair.

"I do too, but hopefully it will be over soon." Sam said, shrugging. "Don't think on it too much or you'll stress yourself out. You're already hurt with your knee, don't hurt yourself anymore by stressing about this."

"I can't help but stress out about this. I just want things to go back to how they were. Am I wrong to wish for that?" Brittany murmured.

"I never said you were wrong for wanting that, I'm just saying that stressing about it isn't going to make her remember." Sam said, trying to be helpful but not sound rude.

Brittany nodded reluctantly. "As much as I hate to admit it, you're right. It's just hard not to stress out and be worried, but I know that it's in everyone's best interest that we just take things slow for now."

Over by Anna, Josh nudged his sister. "Is everything okay sis?" He asked genuinely concerned for his sister. "You look upset."

Anna shook her head, looking away from Brittany and Sam. "I'm fine, Josh. Everything's fine," the brunette lied.

"You know I know that's bullshit right?" Josh said, placing an arm around Anna's shoulder. "What's up?" He asked, being a good older brother.

Anna sighed. "It's Sam and Brittany. Something just doesn't feel right about them, but I don't know what it is and I don't know why I get upset while watching them together," the brunette said quietly.

"Maybe it's because you're realizing once again that you have feelings for Brittany." Josh said, smiling sympathetically at his younger sister. "Maybe that's why you turn away when they do something that's sort of what couples do."

Anna was silent for a while as she thought of Josh's words. "Do I have feelings for Brittany?" She wondered aloud.

"Uhhhh," Josh didn't know how to answer this. "Anna you've already learned a lot today, I think we should save some more for tomorrow."

"Come on Josh, I have to know why I feel this pain inside when I see them together." Anna stated, practically begging her brother.

"Anna, it's best if I tell you tomorrow. I'm sorry, but I don't want you to hurt more than you already are. I'll tell you more tomorrow, okay?" Josh said to his sister.

The brunette girl looked over and saw Sam holding Brittany close, laying the occasional kiss on her head as the blonde tried to get some rest. To be honest, Anna already knew she felt something romantic for Brittany, she just wanted to Josh to confirm it for her.

Once they got back to base that night, Josh showed Anna to her bed and went to tell Terry and Greg about the whole situation with Joan and James. It was a lovely reunion, but Josh couldn't help but feel guilty on the inside about Anna.

If he hadn't told Brittany to lie, they could've avoided Anna being hurt in the first place. But no, he had to stop Britt from possibly getting Anna back. He couldn't help but feel guilty, because he had cause both Brittany and Anna pain from not letting them be together.

"I know you must be feeling guilty right now, Josh, but what you did was right," Greg told him, putting a hand on his nephew's shoulder. "You did the right thing, even if it doesn't feel like it."

"How is it the right thing? I made Brittany lie to Anna, now what is Anna going to think when Brittany tells her that they were together and not her and Sam? You know how Anna is when she's lied to." Josh said looking down. "I can't help but feel guilty."

"Sometimes doing the right thing results in some unfortunate consequences. However, I think that Anna will understand once you tell her the truth and explain why you had to protect her from it," Greg replied.

"I really hope you're right Uncle Greg." Josh said. "I'll let you and my parents have a reunion, I'm gonna go check on Anna and see if she's alright."

Josh made it to her room and saw she was sleeping, tossing and turning as she did so.

The young girl was dreaming about the moment she almost died in the sinkhole, seeing Brittany screaming for her as Josh pulled her back.

Josh went over and sat on the edge of the bed, putting his hand on Anna's shoulder to stop her from flailing around. "Anna, wake up. It's just a nightmare," he said to her. The young girl continued to jerk around in her bed until Josh yelled. "ANNA! Wake up!"

Anna opened her eyes and gasped, sweating and breathing hard from her dreams. "I fell into a-a sinkhole." Anna said trying to catch her breath. "You and Br-rittany were there, w-watching as I f-fell."

"Anna, listen to me," Josh said, looking into his sister's eyes. "That wasn't a dream that you were having. That actually happened. That's one of the memories that you lost."

"I remember it now, that memory." Anna said. "I remember we were liberating one of Heinrick's camps and someone hit self destruct and I didn't make the jump in time. But, that's all I remember. The dream ended when I hit the ground." She said trying to slow her breathing down. "What if I start having dreams where I remember things, little by little?"

Josh shrugged his shoulders. "I honestly don't know if there's a way that me or anyone else can help with these dreams. I guess if you want to take one good thing away from this, it's that you're starting to get your memories back."

"Yeah, I am." Anna said. "At least, I hope that I am." She added with a small smile.

They made their way to dinner, and Anna saw Brittany sitting with Skylar, Dale, and much to her disliking, Sam. Sam had her arm around Brittany reluctantly as they had to pretend to be together while Anna regained her memories. Britt saw Anna and felt her heart hurt a little, wanting Anna there with her arm around her.

After getting their food, Josh and Anna sat down at their table and began to eat. "Man, it really feels great to be back here after all that time in the Healer base," Josh said, everyone else at the table nodding in agreement with him.

"Hell yeah it does," Skylar said, taking a sip of water. "I have to say, even though we were only there a couple of days, it felt like months."

"You got it right there." Lucas said. "I'd been there for almost a year."

"Now that we're back, it looks like you can look into becoming a philosopher like we were talking about," Anna said to Lucas with a chuckle.

"Maybe I can, it seems like this place offers nice acoustics so my thoughts can be heard." Lucas said, laughing along with Anna.

"I for one know you should be the public voice of the rebellion against Heinrick." Brittany said smiling at her brother. "You'd be amazing Lucas, and I think all of us at this table would agree."

Lucas looked around the table, smiling softly when everyone nodded at him. "You really think I could do it?" He asked, looking back over to his younger sister.

"I definitely think that you could. You've got a way with words that not many people have." Brittany said genuinely.

"I agree, dude." Anna added. "Heinrick has had his voice heard, now it's time to have ours heard. And I think you're just the guy to do it."

Lucas nodded, thinking for a few moments. "Alright. I'll do it. But how exactly am I going to do this?" He asked.

"Terry and Greg have video cameras, we just have to find the right setting and then you can speak for us." Josh said.

"I'll talk to them and see when they can get you recorded to shoot a series of propaganda videos." Sam added, smiling at Lucas genuinely. "I haven't heard one of your speeches but from what I'm hearing, you could ignite a fire in this country. One that will defeat Heinrick and his Healers."

"I just want to take down Heinrick once and for all. And the Healers too, the ones that are actually bad. Some of them are only working for Heinrick to protect their families, like Jared and Jason," Lucas said, looking over at the two ex-Healers who were sitting at another table.

"They can't be the only two Healers who are only working for Heinrick because he threatened them." Anna mentioned, taking a sip of water. "There has to be more than just Jason and Jared. If we can get some of his own troops to turn against him, it will make Heinrick a lot more vulnerable."

"I agree, we should talk to them sometime and see if they knew anyone else they worked with who were in the same boat at them." Skylar stated, nodding his head in agreement with Anna. "The more we have on our side, the better."

"Maybe the videos that we send to Heinrick will cause some of the Healers to join our side. Having their knowledge would be great if and when we face Heinrick again, because they'll know some of his tactics," Josh pointed out. Everyone nodded their head in agreement, and they continued to conspire a plan of attack for the rest of dinner.

Sam and Brittany got up at the end of dinner holding hands, which made Anna cringe. "We have to go now, Gemma needed some help with her training and she asked us to help out. Josh, there's also an open invitation for you to come help." Sam said, winking at him jokingly as she and Brittany walked off hand in hand.

Josh blushed a little, making the remaining people at the table laugh. "Why don't you go help Gemma with the training, Josh?" Skylar said, raising his eyebrow suggestively.

"Sam was probably just messing with me, I doubt Gemma asked to invite me to her training." Josh stated blushing even more.

"Come on, don't be scared. Just go, man." Meleike encouraged. "Don't you think he should go Anna?"

"Huh?" Anna said, whipping her head back around. She had watched Britt and Sam walk away with each other, even though it pained her to do so. "Oh yeah, definitely. Go ahead, I'm sure this girl Gemma would like that."

Josh looked at his sister, concern in his eyes. "Do you want to come with me, Anna? You could meet Gemma if you want," he said.

The younger girl just shook her head. "No, you go. I'll meet Gemma tomorrow at breakfast or something. I'm just going to go take a shower, I need it." She said chuckling before getting up and leaving the table.

Once she had left the cafeteria, Skylar turned to Josh. "She doesn't really seem to be a big fan of Sam and Britt."

"That's the idea," Josh said. "According to Greg it could help speed up the memory process."

"Has she remembered anything?" Dale asked.

"Earlier I went to wake her up so we could come to dinner and she was having a dream. She told me that in her dream she saw herself running towards Brittany and I before the ground below her exploded and she was thrown up into the air, which was what happened at Camp Lincoln. I'm not sure if this was just a one-time thing, but it looks as if she'll start remembering things in her dreams," Josh answered.

"Well then, let's hope she dreams every night." Dale said. "I think I speak for everyone one of us here when I say I want the old Anna back. Not necessarily for our sake but for your family and Britt. She's dying inside right now, not being able to be with Anna."

"Anna's hurting too. She doesn't want to admit it, but she is. I think she can tell that Sam and Brittany aren't actually together, or at least she doesn't want them to be," Josh added.

"All the more reason to take down Heinrick. The amount of pain and heartbreak that he has caused…" Lucas mentioned, shaking his head. "He deserves to rot in hell. After Hadley died, Brittany was devastated. But this whole thing with Anna is worse, she so close, yet she can't be with the person she loves because Heinrick wiped that person of their memories."

"What was it like being in that base for an entire year?" Skylar asked Lucas. "The rest of us barely got through a few days, but somehow you managed to stay sane in there for a whole year. How did you do it?"

"Anna's parents were in there even longer than me. They were there for nearly eighteen years." Lucas mentioned. "You really should be asking them how they got through it. But there were some days where I felt I would rot and die in there, but I just had to keep faith that one day I would get out."

"You're really strong, Lucas. You and your sister have both been through so much, and yet you guys still fought through that adversity. I admire that, I really do," Josh said to him genuinely.

"Britt told me about how you guys have been on the run all this time. I admire that as well, how you two always stuck together through it all. That's amazing too." Lucas admitted looking around the table. "We've all been through hell, but we're going to be the ones who end Heinricks reign of terror once and for all."

Anna was walking back from the showers when she saw Josh walking into the training room. She looked in the window and saw him put on some punching gloves so the girl Anna assumed was Gemma could throw punches. Anna then noticed Sam and Brittany walking out of the training room, and the brunette panicked, trying get past the window unseen. Of course that was a hopeless dream.

"Hey, Anna!" Sam said, smiling towards the brunette. "What brings you to the training room?" She asked.

"Umm, I actually just got out of the shower and I'm heading to my room." Anna said shrugging awkwardly, trying to avoid eye contact with Brittany. "My parents and aunt and uncle haven't cleared me to start training again, so I'm on the sideline for now."

"Aw, that sucks. How long will it be before you can start training again?" Sam asked her, trying to make small talk with the brunette.

Anna sensed this and she looked down at the ground. "I don't know. Probably a few weeks," she answered.

Britt hated this to say the least, it should be her and Anna making small talk with Sam, not the other way around. "Well, I hope that you're better soon Anna." She said, trying to be a part of the conversation. "We could use a soldier as brave as you out there."

Anna felt herself smile a little bit at Chloe's words. "Thank you," she said quietly, looking up and making eye contact with the blonde. "I hope I get better soon, too. I hate not being able to train or do anything else."

"Believe me, we really hope that you get to train soon. And we really hope your memories come back soon as well." Britt added, blushing a little and looking down at the ground when Anna smiled at her.

"Well, I should probably get back to my room. I'll see you guys around," Anna said, smiling at Brittany before she walked away.

As soon as Anna was out of sight, Brittany let go of Sam's hand and sighed. "I am so fucking mad at myself for lying to her. I could've come up with a better lie, but no I had to tell her I was with someone else." She said, running her hands through her hair in a stressful manner.

"Don't beat yourself up over it. We're doing what's best for her, remember? You can tell her the truth soon. You just have to wait for the right moment, that's all," Sam said.

Brittany looked at Sam hopelessly. "I honestly can't hate Heinrick more than I hate him right now."

Sam held out her arms, offering Brittany a hug. "I know that I'm not your favorite person in the world, but if there's anything else I can do to help you and Anna, let me know."

Brittany took the hug and stayed there for awhile. "Thanks Sam, I appreciate it." She said, sniffling and holding a couple tears back.

"No problem. Can we call a truce?" Sam asked as the hug went on for a little while longer.

"Yeah," Brittany said smiling gently before pulling away. "Just no more flirting with my girlfriend." She teased.

"Alright, deal," Sam said, chuckling along with Brittany.

Meanwhile in the training room, Josh was helping Gemma train, blocking her punches and then throwing a few back at her so she could dodge them and improve her reflexes.

"Shit, you throw some tough punches girl." Josh said, chuckling and blocking his face so she wouldn't hit his face.

Gemma smirked at this and continued to throw punches at Josh. "I've picked up a thing or two in my life," she replied, dodging a few of his punches as she spoke.

"Maybe we could teach each other some things." Josh said, dodging some of Gemma's punches.

"Oh really?" Gemma said, throwing a couple of quick punches which Josh somehow managed to dodge.

"Yeah, like I could show you a few moves and you show me a few." Josh said smiling cheekily as they took a quick break. "I mean, unless you're not tough enough to try." He said teasing her.

"Is that a challenge, Kendrick?" Gemma said with a little smirk, catching her breath before returning to her fighting stance.

Josh put his fists back up. "It could be a challenge, depends on how you see it." He stated before letting her throw a few punches.

"Well, I choose to see that as a challenge, so I accept the challenge," Gemma said, throwing a few more punches before stopping. "Show me what you got."

Josh smiled and then threw some quick punches, using some of his martial arts background to be quick and agile. Gemma caught him off guard at one point and tripped him over, getting down and pinning him to the ground. "Do you give in yet, Kendrick?"

The boy smirked deviously and then flipped them over, pinning Gemma to the springy floor. "I'm not one to give in easily. That's one thing you should know about me; if I set my mind to something, there's nothing that anyone can do stop me." He whispered, smiling down at Gemma, as it seemed like she wasn't trying to fight back anymore.

"Is that so?" Gemma said, suddenly bringing her knee up and pushing Josh in the chest, sending him to the floor. Gemma was then able to pin him a second time, and she smirked proudly at him. "Looks like I stopped you."

Josh cough and then laughed once he got his breath back, then he looked up at her. He smiled at Gemma, unable to peel his eyes away from hers. "Looks like you might have stopped me." He said softly, linking his hands with hers. Then he pulled her down and placed a gentle but sweet kiss on her lips.

Gemma sighed happily, smiling against Josh's lips. She eventually pulled away from the kiss, gazing down at him. "That was nice," she murmured softly.

"Yeah, it was." Josh said smiling at him. "I've been wanting to do that since I got back. I just was waiting for the right moment I guess." He said blushing. "Was it okay?"

Gemma giggled and leaned in, kissing Josh again. "There. Does that answer your question?"

Josh answered her question by kissing her again, holding her hips as they kissed each other. "You're perfect." He whispered against her lips.

Gemma felt her face turn bright red as she blushed. "I'm not perfect, but thank you," she said, smiling at Josh.

That was when Josh rolled them over, so he was hovering over her. "To me, you are." He said, looking directly into her eyes with a small smile. "I don't care about your flaws, they make you who you are. And you are perfect to me." He whispered before helping her up off of the ground.

Gemma smiled and took off the boxing gloves. "I'll show you my moves tomorrow. I'm gonna head to my room and get some rest now," she said to him.

"Yeah," Josh said smiling gently. "Me too." He bit his lip and smiled. He put his hands on her waist and leaned in to kiss her again.

The girl wrapped her arms around his neck and ran her fingers through his dark brown hair. "We can do more of that tomorrow too if you'd like." She said once they finally pulled back.

Josh smiled at her words. "I'd really like that. Now I've got something to look forward to," he said with a chuckle. "Goodnight, Gemma." He whispered sweetly.

"Goodnight Josh," Gemma said, kissing his lips one more time before turning away and leaving the training room with a smile on his face.

The next morning, Anna was walking down the hall with her head down when she ran into Brittany on the way to breakfast. She looked up at the blonde and awkwardly scooted back. "Sorry," she said biting her lip and looking down. "I didn't mean to bump into you like that."

"No, no, it's fine," Brittany said, smiling at her. "How did you sleep last night?" She asked.

"I slept alright, those beds are actually really comfy." Anna said, putting her hands in her pockets. "I'm assuming you slept okay?"

Brittany nodded. "Yeah, I slept pretty well too. It's been a long time since I've had a good night's sleep," the blonde replied.

"Same," Anna smiled. "Are you headed to breakfast? If you are, we can walk together."

Brittany smiled and the two of them walked side by side to the cafeteria. "How are you doing, Anna? I mean like, are you remembering anything yet?" Brittany asked.

"I have remembered one thing." Anna said, smiling a little as they walked. "I saw you and Josh, I was running toward you and I almost made it. But I guess, according to Josh I fell into a sinkhole."

Brittany smiled a little, comforted with the knowledge that Anna was slowly beginning to remember things. "Well, even if that's not the best memory, it's still progress right?"

"Yeah I guess, I still hate not being able to remember." Anna said, looking at Brittany. She wanted so badly to know something else, because she felt there was something between her and Brittany. "Uhhh, how's Sam?"

Brittany was caught off-guard by Anna's question but she quickly recovered. "Oh, Sam? She's good," the blonde answered, looking down at the floor as they continued walking.

"You two seem, well you two seem-" Anna paused, looking down and shuffling her feet. "You seem very happy together."

Brittany paused before she spoke, not sure how to answer Anna's question. "Thank you," she said quietly, avoiding eye contact with the brunette.

"Can I ask you something?" Anna asked. When Britt nodded Anna took a deep breath. "Josh tends to be overprotective of me, and I know he was talking to you back at the base. Is there something you're hiding from me? Something that I should know?" Anna asked, looking at Brittany directly in her eyes.

Brittany looked at Anna, opening her mouth to speak but no words came out. The blonde felt tears well up in her eyes but she still maintained Anna's gaze. "Anna, I-" She started before stopping herself.

"What? What is going on?" Anna asked. "You were going to tell me something yesterday morning but you stopped because of something my brother did, he's not here so you can tell me." She said, desperately wanting to know the truth. "I can't wait for all these memories to come back in my dreams."

"Anna, I can't." Brittany said, trying to stay calm and not cry in front of Anna. "I wish I could tell you but I can't."

"Why?" Anna demanded, her voice getting angrier in tone. "Why can't you tell me? Do you not think I can handle knowing the truth? I just want to know the truth, Brittany! I know you've been hiding things from me!"

"I want to tell you!" Brittany said, her voice shaky as she tried to keep her tears from falling from her eyes. "You think I don't want to tell you? It's killing me inside, b-but I can't." She said. "Your aunt and uncle and Josh thought you'd remember things better if you remembered them on your own. They told me not to tell you too much." Brittany said genuinely. "I want more than anything to tell you everything, I just can't okay? I'm sorry." She said, seeing Sam and walking her with her shoulders hunched. The blonde let Sam put her arm around her before they went to find a seat.

Anna watched Brittany walk away, turning around and heading back to her room after suddenly losing her appetite. She slammed the door behind her and collapsed on her bed, feeling tears well up in her eyes. She didn't understand why Brittany couldn't tell her the truth, and that only made her more upset.

The young girl just wanted to be left alone, so she closed her eyes and let the tears fall. She soon fell back asleep, and another dream occurred.

Anna was limping towards this random house at the crack of dawn, the weather freezing and her breathing showing in the air. As she crept closer to the house, she saw the lights were on. She walked up and knocked on the door, waiting for someone to answer.

To her surprise, Skylar answered. "Anna?" He said before hugging her close. "How did you?"

Anna just answered with a simple. "I wasn't going down that easy." The girl realized this was a memory. Anna soon hugged Josh, Dale, and pretty much everyone else except Brittany. She was led to the living room and told to wait there, so she did.

A few minutes later, a quiet voice said "Anna?" The brunette turned, seeing Brittany standing in the doorway.

Anna stood up and smiled at the girl. "Hey, Britt. Can I get a hug from my best friend?" She said smiling gently before the blonde sped over and practically jumped into Anna's arms. The brunette smiled and wrapped her arms around her, holding her tight.

"You were dead, you died." Brittany said, crying in Anna's arms.

"I said I'd always find my way back to you." Anna whispered. The dream then ended, fading away as the two girls shared a tight embrace.

Meanwhile in the cafeteria, the other members of the group were eating breakfast when they noticed that Anna wasn't with them. "Hey, have any of you guys seen Anna this morning?" Josh asked.

"Oh man, you may want to go check on her." Skylar said, leaning in close. "She and Britt got in a short but heated argument earlier and Anna left the cafeteria afterwards."

Josh looked over at Brittany, who immediately looked down at the floor. "Yeah, I'll go check on her. I'll be right back," he said to Skylar, getting up from the table. He made his way over to Anna's room quickly, not stopping to chat with anyone.

"Anna?" He said, knocking on the door. "Anna are you alright?"

The door opened, and Josh came face-to-face with Anna. "Why can't I know anything? Why did you tell Brittany to keep secrets from me?" She asked.

"Because I knew rushing and giving you too much information may get you overwhelmed." Josh said, looking down. "I was trying to protect you from the stress all this information would cause you. I did what I thought was best for you even though it's hard."

"I remembered something else." Anna said. "I walked up to this house and was hugged by everyone in our group, it ended with me telling Brittany something. That I'd 'find my way back' to her." She teared up. "Sooner or later I need to know, because I feel something I've never felt before when I look at Brittany. And I can't take not knowing. But if you're not going to help me, I don't want to talk to you right now." She said before closing the door in Josh's face, leaving her brother alone to wonder and think about their next move

 **Poor Anna, she just wants to know the truth. And now she isn't really on speaking terms with Josh or Brittany, because they're keeping the truth from her. How long will it take before they tell her the truth? Will she have to find it all out in dreams? Keep reading to find out!**

 **Until Next Time!**


	21. Chapter 20: Memories

Chapter 20: Memories

It had been two weeks since Anna and the other members of the group had been rescued, and the brunette had rarely spoken to anyone. After her arguments with Brittany and Josh, she mainly stayed in her room, only leaving to get food from the cafeteria. She still wasn't cleared to return to training, so the brunette spent most of the day reading some old books that she had found. After a while, Josh and Brittany stopped trying to come see her, since each time they came to her room and knocked on the door she would ignore them.

The only people Anna really spoke to were her parents, because she felt they were the only ones who would tell her the truth of what they knew. She had had a couple of new dreams that turned out to be memories. One of them was meeting Dale and Skylar and in the other she had saved Brittany from Heinrick in Florida, where she got stabbed.

Brittany was miserable to say the least. Being so close but so far away from Anna was killing her inside, but she knew why it was the way it was. Brittany had been lying to Anna and Anna knew it. Still, that didn't make the pain of not being with her go away. In fact, it probably made it worse.

One morning, Anna and her parents were getting breakfast when Josh approached them. The brunette focused on her food, not paying attention to her brother, who sat down across from her at the table. "Anna, you can't do this forever. You can't not talk to me for the rest of your life," Josh said to her.

Anna just continued to eat her food, not caring about what her brother had to say. Joan sighed and then looked at Josh. "Just give her some more time okay, sweetie?" She said.

"She's been doing this for two weeks now mom, it's been long enough." Josh said, honestly getting irritated with this whole situation. "Look, how many times do I have to apologize?"

Anna stood up and slammed her fist against the table, making some of her water spill onto the table. "You'll keep apologizing until you finally tell me the truth!" She said angrily before grabbing her plate and leaving the cafeteria.

Josh sighed and sat down across from his parents. "I've totally screwed up." He said.

Joan sighed, smiling sympathetically towards her son. "Just give her time, she'll come around eventually."

"It's not just me, Brittany is beyond miserable." Josh said. "The girl barely talks at all, she can't see Anna without crying or leaving the room to cry. And I can't but feel like it's my fault." He fiddled with his hands and shook his head. "I'm the one who told her not to tell Anna anything. And as a consequence, Brittany and Anna aren't speaking and they aren't together. I've ruined Anna's first love and I've ruined Brittany's and hers relationship."

"There were a lot more factors than just you which hurt their relationship. If they're really meant to be together, then they'll find a way to work through this," Joan told her son.

Anna made her way over to Terry and Greg's office and knocked on the door. She was so sick and tired of not being able to train, all she had been allowed to do for those two weeks was sit back and try to remember the lost memories that were somewhere inside of her head. "Come in!" Terry called.

Once Anna was inside she got straight to the point. "I'm ready to start training again."

Terry sighed. "Anna, we already went through this. You will start training again once we decide that you're healthy enough," her aunt told her.

"No, I'm done sitting around and just watching people prepare! It's driving me insane! You can't just expect me to sit around, that's not who I am. And I need something to get Josh and Brittany out of my head, and sitting around trying to remember everything that's happened over the last six months isn't doing an ounce of good!" Anna snapped, standing her ground unwaveringly. "You have to let me start training."

"I'll schedule an appointment for you to get a checkup at the infirmary and the doctors there will decide if you're ready. I know that being on the sidelines is frustrating for you, and we'll do everything we can to get you back in action soon," Terry said in a calm voice.

"I don't want an appointment!" Anna said, getting even more frustrated. "I need to start training! I can't take being on the side anymore, I want to do my part."

"I know Anna, we're just trying to protect you." Greg said walking over to Anna and putting his hand on his niece's shoulder. "Just let us schedule this appointment for you, okay? We're just trying to protect you." He said, looking back to see Brittany walk in.

"You asked to see me?" Britt said to Terry, who nodded and gestured for Brittany to come over.

"I don't need protection." Anna said stubbornly, pushing Greg's hand off of her shoulder. "And I especially don't need people to protect me from the truth." She said, partly towards her uncle but mostly towards Brittany as she walked by. She then turned around and walked out of the room, leaving the three of them there.

"She's a lot more stubborn than her brother, that's for sure." Greg said chuckling a little.

Brittany laughed half-heartedly at Greg's comment. She then sat down in the chair that Anna had been sitting in moments ago. "So, why do you guys need to talk to me?" She asked.

"We actually wanted to ask something of you." Terry said. "Your brother came in here last night and told us he'd like to be the voice of the rebellion against Heinrick. And we could agree more, but we wanted to ask you to be the face of the rebellion."

"What? Why me? Who not Anna or Josh?" Brittany asked in a bit of shock from what Terry had just said.

"Well, Anna's not in any state to do something like this, and Josh has never been one who's liked all the attention on him. Regardless of that, you were our first choice for many reasons," Greg said, looking to Terry to elaborate.

"You and your brother have more cause than anyone to hate to Heinrick and his followers. Plus you're one of our hardest workers and you're a leader. You and your brother are two leaders that the people of this world need in order to end Heinrick's rule." Terry told her.

Brittany nodded but then looked down. "I haven't felt like a leader these past few weeks, leaders don't lie to their loved ones, leaders aren't afraid to tell the truth."

"Leaders do what they have to do to protect their loved ones, even if it means that they have to lie. Sometimes you have to do whatever it takes. As a leader of the people at this base, I know that, and I have respect for anyone who is selfless and puts others before themselves," Greg told Brittany.

"You guys really want me to be the face of this rebellion?" Brittany asked, looking at the two in front of her.

"We really do, we believe your the best choice." Terry said, sitting next the Brittany. "However, if you don't want to do it we won't force you to."

A moment of silence passed between the three of them as Brittany thought moment about what she should do. Heinrick had made her lose so much, and she wasn't going to let him continue to hurt people all over the world. The young woman lifted her head and looked at Terry and then Greg. "I'll do it."

"Are you sure about this, Brittany? This is a big task," Terry said. "I just want you to be completely on-board with this before we go through with our plans."

"Heinrick has caused so much chaos and violence, he's made many people suffer and so many innocent people have lost their lives because of him." Brittany stated strongly. "If this is a way that I can help stop him, I'm all for it."

Both Terry and Greg smiled at Brittany. "Alright, that's great. Thank you for agreeing to do this. We'll call you and your brother back in here soon so we can go over the details of our plan," Greg said.

After Brittany left their office she headed to the training room. No one was in there except for Anna, who had boxing gloves on and was punching one of the punching bags to get her anger out of her system.

Sweat was dripping from her chin and her face was red from working so hard. She stopped for a moment when she heard the door open. A frown made its way onto her face when she saw it was Brittany, so she turned back and started hitting the punching bag without even saying "Hello."

Brittany sighed and grabbed a pair of boxing gloves, heading over to the other punching bag. The blonde turned around and looked at Anna, watching her for a few moments before she began to punch the bag herself. She knew she should probably say something since the brunette still hadn't been cleared to train, but she kept quiet anyways.

"What, you don't have anymore lies to tell me?" Anna scoffed as she stopped punching the bag for a moment. "I figured you came in here to tell me that I'm adopted and that my biological father is Heinrick." She said taking off the gloves and walking a few steps to the pull up bars.

Brittany stayed silent, focusing on the punching bag instead of Anna's words to her. She threw a few more punches, stopping for a few seconds to catch her breath before continuing to punch the bag.

"Oh, so you're not going to speak to me. After I saved your fucking life in Tampa?" Anna said, hopping up and beginning to do pull-ups while the blonde continued to punch the punching bag. Anna had remembered that, the sinkhole, the time she met Dale and Skylar, and when she returned back from the dead at the house in Lincoln. She didn't remember anything else, not even Brittany saving her from Heinrick by giving Anna the last healing serum after Heinrick stabbed her.

Brittany hesitated for a moment, looking down at the floor. "You got another memory back?" She asked, her voice quiet but loud enough that Anna could still hear her.

"Yeah, but why would you care? Since you have seemed to hide them from me ever since D.C." Anna said, grunting a little as she did her pull-ups.

"I care because I want you to get better, Anna," Brittany said, going back to punching the bag.

"If you wanted me to get better, you'd tell me some of things that happened in the six months that was wiped away from my memories." Anna said, hopping down from the pull-up bar after her first set.

"Anna, I'll tell you everything as soon as I'm allowed to. If it were up to me, I would have told you everything by now. Believe me, I want to tell you the truth just as much as you want to know it," Brittany replied.

Anna rolled her eyes and then put some more chalk on her hands before hopping up on the bars again. "Yeah? Sure seems like it." She said as she started her second set of pull-ups. "If you wanted to tell me things you would've told me instead of making up lies."

"I did what I had to do to keep you safe. I know you don't need protection, but I had to do it, Anna. You'll understand soon," Brittany said.

"Oh I already understand, I just think it's total bullshit." Anna snapped, hopping down and stopping the punching bag that Brittany was punching. She looked at Brittany straight in the eyes for the first time in more than two weeks. "But if you know me at all, you know that I'd rather be told the truth and deal with the consequences than being kept in the dark about everything." She then let go of the punching bag and headed over to the climbing wall.

"Anna?" Brittany said. The brunette turned around, looking at her expectantly. "I'll be able to tell you the truth once you start remembering more things, specifically about us."

"I already have, like when I saved your ass from Heinrick. And also after I fell in that sinkhole I called you my best friend, and we shared a hug. Please enlighten me on how that isn't specific to us?" Anna said, crossing her arm and raising her eyebrows as she awaited an answer from Brittany.

"It is, but there's so much more for you to remember before I can explain everything. Looking at the bigger picture, you've still got a solid two or three months of things to remember before I can get into anything," Brittany replied. "But I know that you'll remember those things soon. I believe in you."

Anna shook her head and put chalk on her hands. "Yeah, sure you do." Anna said as she clapped the extra chalk off her hands. "I'm not an idiot Brittany, I know that what's going on between you and Sam is a fucking act. I also know that there's something between us, but you constantly deny it. Just because I don't remember things doesn't mean that I can't figure certain things out on my own."

"Sam and I aren't an act." Brittany said with a shaky voice, knowing it wasn't that convincing.

"Stop lying to me!" Anna shouted, raising her voice all of a sudden. "You and everyone else here keeps lying to me! Stop it! You all think that I believe the bullshit that you tell me, but I don't! I don't buy a single thing that comes out of your mouth. I can't trust anyone here anymore!"

"Anna, I'm sorry-" Brittany started before being cut off by Anna.

"I don't want to hear it! You've been lying to me constantly for two weeks! I'm done, I can't trust you or any word you say! I said you were my best friend in that dream, but I'm starting to believe that dream was total bullshit. Because best friends tell each other the truth, they don't keep things from each other." Anna said, turning around towards the rock wall. "Just stay away from me, you're fucking toxic." She said before starting to climb the wall, not even caring for the fact that her last words made Brittany tear up.

Brittany turned away and walked back to the punching bag, trying as hard as she could to hold the tears in. Eventually, she just took off the boxing gloves, deciding to go back to her room. Once she got there, she closed the door and felt the tears begin to fall down her face. "You messed up big time," She told herself.

For the next month, Brittany stayed away from Anna like the brunette had told her to do. In fact, she was never in the same room as Anna unless it was some of sort of mandatory meeting. If Anna was in the training room, Brittany would avoid going into workout until the girl had left.

It was obvious to everyone of her friends that Brittany wasn't the same. They had all noticed Brittany was constantly isolating herself from everybody in attempts to stay away from Anna. A smile was rare to appear on the blonde's face, and when it did it was a half-hearted smile that only lasted a couple seconds. The truth was, Brittany was broken inside from not being around Anna. Her heart was hurting, and she hated not being able to even look at Anna. The blonde girl spent most of her time in her room when she wasn't working out or eating. Brittany was miserable, plain and simple.

Everyone was beginning to notice the change in the blonde, and they were all concerned for her. Dale tried to get Brittany to talk to her about her feelings, but the blonde would insist she was fine and push her away. "Skylar, I don't know what to do. She's borderline depressed, and she won't let anyone help her," Dale said one day during lunch.

"The last time I tried talking to her she just shrugged or shook her head." Ester said sadly. "She's been depressed ever since that fight with Anna in the training room. But I can't blame her, Anna called her 'toxic.' I can see why Anna would be upset for not being told the truth, but that's pretty rough."

"We need to do something, guys. She's getting worse and worse every day, and I can't just sit by and do nothing about it," Dale said, running her fingers through her hair.

"I agree," Lucas said. "This is killing me, seeing her like this. I hate it, I'm her brother she won't even confide in me. She deserves to be happy, and I can't stand seeing her like this."

"Alright, so it's settled. We have to intervene somehow. What should we do?" Skylar asked.

"I'm not sure, but I think that if it's going to have any positive affect, Anna needs to be a part of it." Lucas stated.

"Lucas, the two of them can't even be in the same room together," Meleike said. "How the hell are we going to get Anna to agree to forgive Brittany?"

"I don't think Anna will forgive Brittany until Brittany tells her the truth," Ester said. "And I know that it might not be the best idea, but it's what has to be done."

"And as far as I know, Anna hasn't remembered anything specific about their relationship. And even if she had, Brittany wouldn't say anything because Anna told her stay away." Josh said, speaking up for the first time in this whole conversation. "This frankly is a suicide mission, getting Anna to forgive Brittany. I say right now we just focus on some other way to try and get Brittany to feel better. If our ideas don't work, then we'll go to Anna. But right now, things are just too tense between them. No good would come out of those two being in a room together."

Dale looked up and saw that Brittany had walked into the room and was heading over to get her food. "Do you think I should go try to talk to her?" She asked the other people at the table.

"It's worth a shot." Skylar said, shrugging at his girlfriend.

Dale got up and then walked over to the line where Brittany was. "Hey, Britt. What's up? We haven't seen you in awhile."

"Yeah, I guess," Brittany muttered as she grabbed a plate and started serving herself some food.

"Will you come and sit with us? Everyone really misses you." Dale said in a genuine and sweet tone. "Plus, you know who already came through and ate, so you don't have to worry about her coming in."

"You can call her by her name, Dale. I don't need to be treated like a little kid who doesn't understand anything," Brittany replied, grabbing a bread roll from a basket.

Dale cringed a little bit before apologizing. "Yeah, sorry. I won't do that from now on. But will you come sit with us? It's been forever since we've really got to spend some time with you. You know, being the face of rebellion and all with your brother."

Brittany paused, thinking about Dale's offer. "Sure," she said softly, turning and walking towards Dale's table and sitting down a few seats away from everyone else.

People at their table smiled when Brittany walked over, happy to see their friend. However, their smiles faded when they saw hor miserable she looked. Bags were under eyes from not being able to sleep, and her skin was pale from lack of going outside. Lucas patted the seat next to him so his sister could sit there. "Hey, sis." He said, giving her a side hug.

Brittany looked over at Lucas and smiled a little bit. "Hey," she said, her voice still quiet. She looked away after a few seconds, continuing to eat her food like she was before.

"So, what's it like filming those propaganda videos?" Skylar asked. "Is it fun?"

"I guess, yeah." Brittany said before shrugging her shoulders. "We are just about done filming the first one, but I don't think it'll make a difference anyway."

"Why do you say that?" Josh asked.

Brittany shrugged her shoulders. "Lucas is great at his part, but I'm not. Me being the face of the revolution isn't going to change anything. It'll just make Heinrick hate me even more and he'll try to take away the little things I have left."

The table was silent for a moment, fiddling with the leftover food on their plates. It was Dale who broke the silence. "That's not true, you're so strong and you're a leader to everyone here. The things you and your brother do, they will make a difference." She said, trying to be positive.

"I wish I could believe you." Brittany said, taking a sip of water. "But my heart just isn't in it right now."

"If your heart isn't in it right now, then why are you still doing it?" Skylar asked her out of curiosity.

"Because I made a promise to do it, I'm not going to break it. That's not who I am." Brittany said, taking another sip of her water. "Plus, maybe if I show how much I care about the wellbeing of the people, then maybe the person I love will come back to me." She said, causing another silence to fall over the table.

Nobody said anything for a few moments, and Brittany nodded to herself, looking back down at her plate. "I'm not hungry anymore," the blonde said, standing up and throwing her plate into the garbage before heading towards the door.

Once she was gone, Dale sighed. "Shit," she said, running her fingers through her hair. "This is bad, really bad. What the hell are we going to do? She's completely torn apart."

"I know. I don't know what we can do. It's obvious that what she needs is to work things out with Anna, but I don't think Anna wants to work things out," Lucas said with a sigh of frustration.

"The only people Anna trusts right now are our parents." Josh mentioned. "Maybe we could get them to talk to her, and have them convince her to talk to Brittany in a civil manner."

"I still think that Brittany should tell Anna the truth. If things keep going the way they're going, it might be the only shot that she has to save her relationship with Anna," Ester commented.

"I agree," Josh said. "Anna deserves to know. But if Terry or Greg find out about this little operation we're doing, then we're screwed. Anna is still training behind their back even though they haven't cleared her for training. If they find out that we're telling her what happened, we're all screwed."

"As long as we don't talk about it while they're around, we should be pretty safe. Let's all be careful, though. Some people might overhear and report back to them about it," Skylar said.

"I really hope we can pull this off." Dale said. "This whole split between Anna and Brittany is having a negative effect on everyone, not just those two. I hate seeing them like this, it's even worse than when they first met."

Josh nodded. "I just hope that we can figure this out before it's too late. I've never seen Anna happier than she's with Brittany, and even though they're at a stalemate in their argument now, I think that they should be able to fix their relationship."

That night, Josh went to his parents room and knocked on the door. When heard his mother say, "Come in," he opened the door. "Oh Josh, sweetie. What are you doing here? You're usually in the training room with Gemma right about now."

Josh closed the door and walked inside, sitting down in a chair. "Mom, we need to talk about Anna and Brittany," he said to her with a serious tone of voice.

"Yes, I figured that you would come and talk to us about this at some point." Joan said, getting a chair for Josh to sit in. "Tell me, what about Anna and Brittany is your reason for coming here tonight?"

"Isn't it obvious? They're both miserable. Anna won't talk to anyone except you and Dad, and Brittany's completely heartbroken! We have to do something about this. I can't just sit by while my sister and one of my closest friends are suffering," Josh said.

"What do you want us to do about it?" James asked as he walked up to his son.

"Anna trusts you two, you're the only people she really interacts with." Josh mentioned. "I need you to try and convince Anna to go and talk to Brittany. We are going to try and get Brittany to tell Anna the truth, but we need to get Anna in the same room as Brittany by talking to her and convincing her to hear Brittany out."

"Anna doesn't need to know the truth yet-" James started.

"Yes, she does! She needs to know the truth, and she has every right to know! We've all been lying to her, and I feel terrible about that. Please, we have to help her and Brittany. Anna has to know the truth," Josh stated.

"Do Greg and Terry know about this?" Joan asked.

"No, and they're not going to find out. Because if they do, they'll try and stop us because they believe she's not ready." Josh said, sighing and running his hands through his hair. He then looked up at his parents. "Please, Anna's been kept in the dark too long, and Brittany has been hurting and isolating herself just because Anna said she was toxic and she didn't want Brittany around. They used to be happy, isn't that what you want?"

Joan and James exchanged a look before James responded to Josh's question. "Yes, we want her to be happy, and I know that Brittany makes her happy," he said. "But if she's not ready to handle the truth, then we may hurt her even more, and we don't want that."

"So you're not going to do it?" Josh asked, taken aback by what his father just said.

"It's too risky son," James said.

"And since when has this family been scared of taking risks?" Josh said, angry with his father's response. "You took the biggest risk of your life, letting us go all those years ago. What's so bad about taking this risk? Yes it may hurt Anna, but it may help her too."

"I'm sorry Josh, but I don't think we should talk to Anna about this." James said, placing his hand on his son's shoulder.

Josh pushed it off, shaking his head at his father. "Screw you, Dad." Josh answered. "You're not saying that because you think it'll keep Anna safe. You're doing because you've somehow installed in her head that Brittany isn't right for her."

"How dare you accuse me of that?" James said with an angry voice. "That is not true at all!"

"James," Joan said, putting a hand on his arm. "Let's not get into an argument now, okay?"

"Why else would she not be talking to Brittany? You're one of the two people she talks to, and as much as you deny it, you haven't been kind to Brittany. Only mom treats her well." Josh said, tearing up with angry and hot tears sitting on his eyelids. "So why don't you own up to it in front of mom, huh? You've never said anything bad about Brittany but you haven't been kind to her either. Whenever she asks how Anna is doing you say she's doing great, but you know she is fucking miserable."

"Anna doesn't want Brittany anywhere near her. She said so herself, so why are you blaming me for her staying away? And why would I tell Brittany that she was miserable if I knew that would make her try to go talk to Anna? I'm just doing what's best for my daughter here," James said, defending himself.

"That may be, but Anna says things she doesn't mean when she's upset." Josh said, still accusing his father. "You would've known that if you had been there the last seventeen years of her life! But guess what? You weren't! You are going to talk to her, because it's going to be more likely to make her happy again than just sitting there and watching their love deteriorate into nothing. And if you don't, then don't be surprised when Anna slowly pulls away from you too. Good fucking job, Dad. Keep lying to Brittany and your daughter and see where that gets you!" He said before letting one tear fall, turning around and slamming the door as he left.

A short blanket of silence fell between the Joan and James. Joan broke it after a minute or so. "Josh is right, darling. We have to talk to Anna."

"You can talk to Anna if you want to. I'm not going to obey my son after he talked to me like that," James said firmly. "That was totally out of line and disrespectful."

"He's upset, darling." Joan said. "He misses Anna, she's completely cut him out of her life. Yes he was a little much back there, but he wasn't wrong. You don't treat Brittany very kindly, even if you don't mean to. Last time you spoke to her, you said Anna was better off without her."

James sat there, recalling the fairly recent memory.

 _Brittany came up to James in the lunch line shyly. "Hey Mr. Kendrick."_

 _James turned around when he heard someone greet him, and he frowned a little bit when he saw it was Brittany. "Oh, hello Brittany," he said, turning back around and grabbing a plate for himself._

" _How's everything going? You know, since you and Mrs. Kendrick got out of the base?" Brittany asked softly, grabbing herself a plate._

" _Everything's going fine, thank you," James replied, grabbing a hot dog and a bun for himself._

" _That's good to know." Brittany said smiling softly for a moment. She then turned to Joan. "How are you adjusting Mrs. Kendrick?"_

" _I'm doing very well, thank you," Joan said with a kind smile towards Brittany. "Are you doing alright?"_

" _I'm getting by the best I can, it's hard though." Brittany said, looking down for a moment. "I miss Anna and I wish I had just told her the truth. Then I wouldn't be in the mess that I'm in, she doesn't even want me around."_

" _I'm sure that's not true." Joan said. "She just needs some time."_

" _She called me toxic, Mrs. Kendrick. I think it's safe to say she hates me and doesn't want to be around me." Brittany said, trying not to get choked up or teary._

" _She just needs some time, Brittany. I'm sure that she'll come around eventually. If anyone can convince Anna to forgive them, it's you," Joan replied in a kind voice._

 _That's when James chimed in, giving his opinion. "I'm not sure about that, I mean, Anna is beginning to move on in her life."_

" _Oh," Brittany said. "Oh, well uh, good for her." She stated grabbing a glass of water. "Has she talked about me at all?"_

" _Only in moments she remembers, but to her they feel like total bullshit." James mentioned in a slightly harsh tone._

" _James," Joan said, looking at him as if to tell him not to continue._

 _Brittany felt her heart stop at his words, and she looked down, feeling tears well up in her eyes. "Oh," she said quietly._

" _What, Joan?" James said acting innocent of any rude behavior. "It's the truth. Anna feels like all these memories are just a bunch of lies, and Brittany isn't telling her the truth about what happened. Maybe Anna's better off without Brittany in her life, she called her toxic for a reason."_

James sat down. "Even if I did say that, Brittany still lied to Anna."

"Well so have we, and if you ask me, our lies have been just as bad." Joan stated firmly. James stayed silent for a moment, so Joan continued. "If we don't do anything about this, we might lose our daughter, James. We've almost lost her enough times where I'm willing to do whatever it takes to make sure that doesn't happen again."

"Joan, do you realize the risk you're taking? Getting our daughter to talk to Brittany and hear the truth, odds are it could be a disaster." James said.

"Or it could bring her back to us." Joan said. "It doesn't matter to me what the odds are, if there's even a sliver of a chance that it could bring our Anna back, I'm going to take that risk." She stated, standing up and putting her jacket. "I'm going to talk to her, and you aren't going to stop me from doing so."

James watched as his wife stood up and walked out of the room, and he sighed to himself. He wanted the best for Anna, but he just didn't know if Brittany could help his daughter more than she had already hurt her.

Joan walked out of the room and into the hallway, turning towards the direction of Josh's room before she made her way down the hallway. She knocked on his door and came in.

"Mom?" He said in a confused tone.

Joan took a deep breath and then spoke. "I'll talk to her."

 **So, it looks Joan is going to try and talk to Anna, and get her to talk to Brittany.**

 **Hopefully Brittany will tell her the truth! Tell us what you think!**

 **Until Next Time!**


	22. Chapter 21: What Really Happened?

Chapter 21: What Really Happened?

"Really? You're going to talk to her?" Josh asked, a hopeful smile spreading across his face when he heard those words come from her lips.

"Yes, I will." Joan said, smiling back at her son. "If there is any small chance that this will get Anna back to her normal self, then I will help. I hate seeing her so isolated from you and your friends, she needs to be able to trust again. I just hope that I can convince to be in the same room as Brittany without her attacking the poor girl."

"You and Dad are the only two people that she actually listens to anymore, so I'd say that you have a pretty good chance of convincing her," Josh said to his mother. "Thank you so much for agreeing to do this. It means a lot to me."

"I know you miss your sister, and I know everyone of your friends miss her as well, especially Brittany." Joan said, sitting next to her son. "Even if this doesn't bring them together as a couple, hopefully they'll at least be on civil terms and they can be friends again."

Josh nodded. "At this point, all we can hope for is that they'll stop fighting and are able to be around each other without arguing. Hopefully they'll get back together at some point, but taking little baby steps is good for now. And, hopefully she'll trust her own brother again."

"She will Josh, I have no doubt in my mind that Anna will trust you again once this happens. Anna loves you, she just needs to hear the truth. She's been fed too many lies for too long." Joan stated before hugging her son. "We'll bring her back."

"Please bring her back. I miss her so much," Josh said, hugging his mom back tightly. "Do whatever you can to make sure that she and Brittany can talk things out."

"I will sweetheart, I promise." Joan said, kissing the top of her sons head.

Early the next morning, Joan went to the training room knowing she'd find Anna there doing a workout. It was around 6:00 a.m. when no one else was around, and Anna knew it was the only way she wouldn't get caught by Terry or Greg. She was currently climbing the rock wall to work her abs and arms when she turned back to see her mom walking in. "Hey, you're up early."

Joan smiled and walked towards Anna, watching as her daughter climbed up the rock wall. "You're getting stronger every day, Anna. I'm proud of you," she said to her.

Anna smiled and then slowly and skillfully made her way down the wall and back to the floor. "Are you getting an early workout in?" Asked Anna as she jumped the last five feet to the floor.

Joan shook her head. "I actually came to talk to you about something."

Anna grabbed her water bottle and took a sip from it. "Alright, what did you want to talk about?" She asked.

"I know that with everything going on, things have been difficult. With you having to sneak in here just to train because Greg and Terry haven't cleared you yet. Not to mention the fact that some of your friends haven't been completely honest with you." Joan started out, trying to ease Anna into the conversation that they were about to have. "And I know that you haven't really remembered anything since you remembered you and Josh stealing one of the Healer's cars right before you met Dale and Skylar. So I know life hasn't really been going well."

"What's your whole point of this then?" Anna asked, walking over to the big obstacle course in the training room.

"I want to help you, Anna. I know that you're not doing well, and I want to help you. I just need you to trust me and to talk to me," Joan said, following Anna over to the obstacle course.

The young girl began taping her hands, looking up at her mother. "I'm listening, what is it that you want to tell me about?" She asked, looking over at her mother.

"I think that you need to talk to Brittany, let her explain things." Joan said, hoping her daughter wouldn't freak out.

"No way, I'm not talking to her. She's compulsive liar who doesn't care one bit about me." Anna stated, shaking her head as she began to tape her other hand.

"She does care about you, Anna. We all care about you and we want to help you," Joan said in a calm voice.

"Then why would she lie to me?" Anna asked. "She and Josh both, they've constantly been telling me things that aren't true. If I talk to Brittany, how am I going to know what she says is the truth and not some scam to try and get me to trust her again?"

"Because I trust that what she says is the truth. She won't lie to you anymore. None of us will. And that's the truth," Joan told her.

Anna took a deep breath after a short silence between the two of them. "You know if we get caught, we're in big trouble. I'll talk to Brittany, but I swear to God if I catch one lie coming out of her mouth I'm leaving this base."

"Okay, I can agree to that. She won't lie to you, Anna. Not anymore. I promise you that," Joan said, smiling at her daughter.

The young girl nodded her head and smiled quickly before saying. "I'll talk with her later, but for now I need to get my training in so that Terry and Greg don't catch me and lock me in my room." She then started climbing the ladder to start the obstacle course.

About an hour later, Brittany heard a knock on her door. She opened her eyes and stretched before getting up and opening the door. "Josh? What is it?" She asked as she let him inside.

"My mom has convinced Anna to sit down and talk with you as long you agree to tell her the truth about you two." Josh said smiling happily at the young girl.

"Really? She agreed to talk to me?" Brittany asked, shocked that Anna would even consider speaking to her or being in the same room as her.

"Yeah! My mom went and talked to her early this morning and got her to agree to have a civilized conversation." Josh said, closing the door behind them. "But no lies, you tell her the whole truth about you two and the last six months. Then hopefully she'll be back on our side, and things will go back to the way they were."

Brittany nodded, knowing that this would be the closest that she's been to fixing her relationship with Anna. "Alright. When am I going to talk to her?" The blonde asked.

"A little later today; my mom said that she was going to finish training, take a shower and then get some breakfast. My best guess is you guys will talk pretty soon after that." Josh said smiling at his sister's girl. "You're going to win her back, even if it's not today it's going to happen." He said smiling softly.

"Let's hope so." Brittany said before heading to eat some breakfast.

Anna meanwhile had just finished her training and was heading back to her room to take a shower. Part of her didn't know why she agreed to talk to Brittany, but she knew that was the right decision. It had been far too long since she had a proper conversation with the blonde, and she hoped that she would keep her word and tell her the truth.

Josh took Brittany to Anna's room since Joan had told them she'd be there, he knocked on the door and they waited for Anna to answer. "You can do this, you've been wanting to tell Anna the truth for a long time, so do just that."

Brittany nodded and then Anna opened the door. "Come in," she said calm but in a robotic tone. She was ready to hear the truth, but she still wasn't thrilled to see either Brittany or Josh.

Brittany walked inside of the room, Josh following her. The blonde turned around. "I think it would be best if I did this on my own, Josh," she said to him.

"Are you sure?" He asked, hesitant to leave Brittany and Anna alone.

Brittany nodded. "I'm sure. I'll come get you if I need anything," she replied.

"Okay," Josh said, nodding before taking a quick glance at Anna. He then turned and walked out, leaving the two girls alone.

It certainly had been awhile since they'd been this in this close of a vicinity to each other. Anna got a chair for Brittany and then sat down in her own. "So, how is this going to go? Are you going to tell me the truth?"

Brittany sat down in the chair across from Anna, taking a deep breath and nodding. "Yeah, I'm going to tell you the truth. I should've told you a long time ago, but I'll tell you now," she said, looking into the brunette's eyes. "Where would you like me to start?"

"Why don't you tell me how things went down in chronological order? From the beginning to now?" Anna said, crossing her arms as she got ready to listen. "Does that sound easy enough?"

Brittany nodded. "Alright, chronological order it is," she said. She took a deep breath and paused before speaking again. "So, we first met when I jumped out at you in the woods in the middle of the night. You and your brother, along with Skylar and Dale, had stolen a Healer truck and parked it for the night, and I thought that you were one of them. After I realized that you weren't, I talked with you and your friends for a while and then it was decided that I join your group."

Anna listened carefully and genuinely, asking questions every now and then but letting Brittany explain everything from the Seattle incident where Josh got captured to when they destroyed the Chicago base.

Once everything else had been filled in. "When you said neither of us were single, you never said who I was with. Why is that?"

Brittany paused and bit her lip, looking down. "Anna-" she started, pausing again. "Anna, you and I… you and I were together."

Anna nodded and looked down for a moment, she then looked up at Brittany. "I actually kind of figured that one out for myself when Josh cut you off and pulled you aside." She stated. "Which is why I knew the thing with Sam was a lie; I would've said something, I just wanted to hear it from you. And that's why I got so upset that one night in the training room." She paused for a moment. "How long were we together before it all fell to shit and Heinrich wiped my memories?"

"A few months, and those were the best months of my life," Brittany replied. She felt tears well up in her eyes. "God, Anna. I'm so sorry that I lied to you. I've never regretted anything more than having to lie to you."

"I'm sorry too, that night when I called you toxic I was just upset because I knew you weren't happy pretending to be with Sam." Anna said shrugging. "And I wanted to remember things, things that have happened between us. And I felt like you telling me these things would help me remember. So I'm sorry for that, you didn't deserve being called such a nasty thing."

Brittany looked down and wiped away a few of the tears that had fallen down her face. "Is there anything else that you want to know?" She asked, looking back up at Anna.

"I want to know if you still the same way about me, after the way I've treated you for the last month and a half." Anna said, placing her hand on top of Brittany's.

Brittany looked down at their hands and then back at Anna, slowly nodding her head. "I love you, Anna," she said quietly, a small smile appearing on her face. "I love you so much."

Anna nodded and smiled to herself. "At first I didn't know what I was feeling whenever I saw you walking around with Sam, I felt angry and upset that you wouldn't tell me the truth." She said, shrugging a little. "But mostly I just felt like a part of me was missing."

Brittany nodded as Anna spoke. There was a silence between the two of them as Brittany thought of what to say. "Are we good now?" The blonde asked in a quiet voice.

"Yeah. I'm not sure I'm ready to go full on back into our relationship, but I do want to be with you." Anna said, still holding Brittany's hand. "So, can we just take it slow?"

Brittany nodded. "Yeah, of course. I'll wait however long it takes for you to be ready," she said, smiling softly at Anna.

"Thank you, Britt." Anna said, squeezing her hand. "I really am happy that you finally told me everything." She murmured happily, leaning forward and putting their foreheads together, staying there awhile. "Brittany?"

The blonde opened her eyes, having closed them when they leaned their foreheads together. She gazed into Anna's blue eyes, getting lost in them. "Yeah?"

"As a couple, what did we do? How far have we gone in the romance department? Like, am I still a virgin?" Anna asked, smiling when Brittany giggled a little bit. "Answer that and then I have one last question for today."

"No, you're not a virgin anymore," Brittany told her, giggling a little bit more. "What's your last question for me?"

"Can I kiss you? Just to remember what it feels like?" Anna asked sweetly, looking into those gorgeous blue eyes, hoping the girl would say yes. "If not that's okay, I was just hoping to remember."

Brittany smiled and nodded. "Of course you can kiss me," she said, interlocking her fingers with Anna's.

"Okay cool," Anna said smiling back at Brittany. She was ready to remember what Brittany's lips tasted like. She then stood up and then walked over to Brittany's side of the table. Anna slowly leaned down and cupped Brittany's cheeks, leaning in and going about ninety percent of the way, hoping Brittany would finish closing the gap.

Brittany looked down at Anna's lips for a moment before closing her eyes and closing the gap, pressing their lips together in a sweet kiss. It felt so good to kiss Anna again after being apart for so long.

Anna felt butterflies enter her stomach as the kiss started, her heart beating happily for the first time in awhile. Her hands cupped Brittany's cheeks. When she finally pulled away, Anna was speechless. She just smiled gently.

Suddenly all the memories of Brittany and her together came flooding back and she couldn't help the smile on her face. The first time she admitted her love for Brittany, their first kiss. The make out sessions, and their first time. How incredible and magical it was. "I remember," she said smiling.

Brittany looked at Anna with a confused look on her face. "You remember what?" She asked.

"Everything, between you and me." Anna said smiling to herself, tearing up happily. "I remember it all." She said looking at Brittany. "How I admitted to you that I loved you the night we liberated the camp in Florida. When we had our first kiss in my room in the house in Lincoln. Everything."

A smile slowly spread across Brittany's face, and she too began to tear up. "Really? You really remember everything?"

"Everything." Anna said smiling back at her. "Everything that's happened between you and me. I don't remember everything I missed besides our moments, but I remember the most important parts. And those have just you and me."

Brittany smiled and began to lean in, stopping right before she met Anna's lips. "Can I kiss you again?" She asked shyly.

"You can kiss me as much as you want." Anna whispered, smiling and blushing at Brittany as they looked in each other's eyes. Midnight skies reflecting in crystal blue waters.

"Okay, good," Brittany said with a chuckle before closing the gap, connecting her lips with Anna's for a second time. The blonde leaned into the kiss, smiling against the brunette's lips. Anna pulled her close, holding Brittany by her hips.

"Wow," Anna said as they pulled back again, she then kissed Brittany once more holding her close. Their lips were in perfect sync with each other.

"Wow indeed," Brittany murmured back, catching her breath after their lips parted. The blonde smiled shyly, blushing a little bit. "It feels really great to finally be able to do that again," she said.

"Yeah, it truly does." Anna whispered, holding Brittany by her waist still. "I've missed the taste of your lips." She murmured.

"Me too," Brittany replied, leaning their foreheads together. After a few moments of silence, she spoke up again. "I should probably head back to my room now. Terry and Greg will probably be looking for me, and we can't have them find out that I've told you the truth."

"Which probably means that we can't act all lovey dovey around each other." Anna mentioned, running her hands up and down Brittany's sides in a gentle and loving manner. "They will suspect something if we seem to be getting along."

Brittany nodded. "So for the time being, we're still gonna have to pretend like we hate each other," she said, smiling sadly. "Hopefully we won't have to pretend for very long."

"We will still be able to be together at night, so that's good." Anna said smiling and holding the blonde close to her. "I've missed you, Brittany. So, so much."

"I missed you too," Brittany said, embracing Anna for a few moments before pulling away. "I should really get going now," the blonde said, starting to walk towards the door. "I'll see you later?"

"Yeah, but one last thing." Anna said, pulling Britt into a deep and passion-filled kiss. Her hands pulling along the hem of Brittany's shirt. They stayed liked this for awhile despite Brittany saying she had to go.

Brittany's hands cupped Anna's face as they kissed. The blonde never wanted that moment to end, but she knew that she had to go. "Anna, I have to go."

"No, stay," Anna murmured against the blonde's lips.

"I'll come back later, I promise," Brittany told her.

Anna groaned playfully when she finally pulled back. "Fine," she whispered. "Why do you have to go anyways?"

"We're shooting the last bits of the first propaganda video. I hope it won't take too long, because I want to be spending time with you." Brittany said smiling at Anna. "Tonight we will have all the time in the world." She said sweetly kissing Anna's nose.

"Okay," Anna whispered, blushing when Britt kissed her nose. "I love you, have fun at your video shooting."

"I'll see you later. And remember, don't act too happy. Even though I want to tell everyone that we're back together, we don't want anyone to suspect anything," Brittany said, smiling at Anna as she opened the door.

"Don't worry, I'll be my grumpy, angsty self. No one will notice the difference." Anna said with a chuckle before kissing Britt goodbye.

Once Britt had walked towards the main office she stopped and leaned against the wall with a smile. Anna was finally hers once again. The blonde then opened the door to the main office and stepped inside where Lucas, Terry and Greg were already waiting for her.

"Hello, Brittany," Terry said with a kind smile. "Are you ready to finish shooting the video?"

"Yes I'm ready." Brittany said nodding softly before getting into makeup and hair. It was done in a soft side braid and her makeup was lightly done, to make her look like she had just been in battle.

While Brittany was getting ready for the video, Lucas was going over the final part of his speech for the video, reading aloud to himself to figure out the tone he should use while speaking.

After they finished getting her ready, they shot the rest of the scene. Brittany and Lucas both nailed their parts and were done within an hour.

That night, Brittany snuck off around midnight to go to Anna's room. She knocked on the door and smiled when Anna opened it, quickly walking inside so they couldn't be seen together.

Anna closed the door behind Brittany once the blonde was inside. "How did the video filming go?" The brunette asked.

"Pretty good, we got done in a little under an hour. I think it's going to send a big message to Heinrick that he's going to pay for everything he's done." Brittany stated, taking off her jacket and leaving her in her cute turquoise pj shorts and a loose tank top. "What were you up to, baby?" She said laying herself on the bed in sexy way.

"Waiting for you to get back," Anna replied with a chuckle, walking over to the bed and laying down beside Brittany. "I missed you," she murmured softly, looking into the blonde's eyes.

Brittany knew Anna wasn't just talking about those couple of hours, she knew the girl meant that last month and a half without each other. "Babe, I missed you so, so much." She said, turning onto her side and linking her right hand with Anna's left hand. "I love you, and I'm never going to let you go, never again."

Anna smiled and closed her eyes for a few moments. "I love you too, Britt. I never want to be apart from you again," she said, opening her eyes and looking down at Brittany's lips.

"And we never will be apart, not anymore." Brittany whispered before closing the gap and kissing Anna on the lips. She pulled the brunette close to her so their bodies were pulled flush against each other's. Brittany's hands ran up and down Anna's hips.

Anna ran her fingers through Brittany's blonde hair as they kissed. "I love you so much," she mumbled, tugging at Brittany's bottom lip with her teeth.

"Mmmmm, I love you too baby." Chloe whispered, humming softly in pleasure when Anna bit her bottom lip. Her heart beat began speeding up, she had missed these moments with Anna a lot. It felt so right kissing Anna again, and Brittany wasn't planning on stopping anytime soon.

Anna didn't say anything in response, instead letting their lips move in perfect sync. She hummed softly with approval, sliding her tongue across Brittany's bottom lip and smiling. The blonde instantly moaned as Anna's tongue dragged across her bottom lip. Brittany was amazed that brunette hadn't lost her touch after having her memory erased.

"God, Anna." Brittany moaned gently against the brunette sucked on her bottom lip. Her arms ran to the dip in Anna's back and Brittany pulled the older girl on top of her, letting Anna straddle her.

Anna leaned down and kissed Brittany's lips, this kiss more rough and passionate than the previous. "You have no idea how much I've missed doing this. Being with you feels so right."

"Mmmm, so, so right." Brittany murmured against Anna's lips, moaning gently as the kiss grew more intense. Her hands softly scratched up and down Anna's back under her shirt.

Anna's breath hitched as Brittany's nails made soft scratches in her skin. "That feels nice," she whispered, moving her lips to Britt's neck. The blonde girl moaned and tugged at Anna's hair as the brunette left kisses on her neck.

"Your lips on my body feels really nice," Brittany whispered, biting her lip to keep from getting too aroused. It had been almost two months since she and Anna had consummated their love, sue her for getting turned on. "Shit, don't stop."

Anna could tell that Brittany was holding back. The brunette slowly pulled away and looked into the blonde's eyes. "Is something wrong?" She asked with a concerned voice.

"It's just, you said you wanted to take it slow." Brittany said looking up at Anna. "You're really turning me on, and I don't want to push you to do anything you don't want. Unless you want to, then I'm okay with it."

Anna smiled at Brittany's words. "I know I said that earlier, but I had forgotten how irresistible you are. I want this," she said, gazing into the blonde's eyes.

Brittany smiled widely at Anna and then said, "Let's make up for lost time then, shall we?" She whispered before pulling Anna back down into a deep kiss. Her heart beat began to speed up again as she grew more and more excited.

"I guess we shall," Anna said with a chuckle as their lips met once again. She slid her tongue across Brittany's bottom lip a second time as if to ask for entrance. Brittany let Anna's tongue inside her house, humming in approval and smiling into the kiss.

Anna then sat up and stripped her shirt off for Brittany, slowly so the blonde could take in the beautiful sight. "Wow," Brittany said smiling.

"Do you like what you see?" Anna asked, throwing her shirt onto the floor and leaning back down to kiss Brittany.

"Very much." Brittany whispered into the kiss, running her hands along Anna's abs gently. She then sat up and pulled her own tank top over her head and tossed it onto the floor next to Anna's shirt. The kissing then resumed rather quickly.

"You're so beautiful, baby," Anna whispered, smiling against Brittany's lips as they began kissing again. The brunette ran her fingers through Brittany's blonde hair, tugging at the ends of it gently. It goes without saying these two had missed each others touch, and they had missed each kiss and tugging of hair and scratching of skin. Both of them knew what was about to happen, and they didn't plan on stopping for anything.

"Oh, Anna." Brittany gasped when the brunette began grinding against her centre, feeling herself become more aroused by this motion. She gripped Anna's skin at her waist and began grinding along with her to create friction and pleasure for both of them.

"Do you like that?" Anna asked, smiling down at Brittany as she continued her grinding motions.

Brittany's answer was an uncontrolled moan. She loved it, and grabbed Anna's ass and pushed her against her core even more. Her body was shaking in anticipation of the pleasure that was about to take place. "Fuck, yes Anna. Take me and make love to me, make love to me like you've always wanted."

"Listening to you moan because of me turns me on so much," Anna whispered in Brittany's ear as she started to leave a trail of kisses down her body, not leaving a single inch of skin untouched.

Anna hit a particularly sensitive spot on Brittany's skin, feeling her body tense up as she kissed right around the scar of one of the wounds she had gotten from Heinrick all those years ago. Brittany took a deep breath, admiring how gentle Anna was being with her, while at the same time being passionate and intense. "You're so good to me," she whispered as Anna left perfectly ginger kisses along her skin.

"You deserve the world, Brittany. I'm just trying to give as much as I can to you," Anna whispered back, continuing to leave kisses on Brittany's soft skin. The brunette occasionally nipped at the blonde's skin, leaving a small hickey.

"Please Anna," Brittany whispered, running her hands through Anna's hair. "I need you, so badly. I'm aching for your touch."

"How bad do you need me?" Anna asked, using her fingers to leave small scratches on Britt's thighs. "How bad do you need me? Tell me, and I may give you what you want."

"There's nothing on earth that I need more than I need you right now." Brittany whispered with a moan. Her legs slowly spread wide open for Anna, wanting the brunette to remove her shorts and underwear so she could feel Anna's touch again. "Please Anna, I am so ready for you, fuck me senseless." She said, tugging on Anna's hair strands as the girls lips traveled along her skin.

Anna smirked a little bit before leaning forward and kissing Brittany's lips softly. "I will, baby," she whispered, quickly removing the blonde's shorts and underwear. "Let me know how this is," she said, slipping two fingers inside of her.

"Oh, fuck Anna!" Brittany moaned, gripping the sheets and gasping at the sudden pleasure. "Yes!" She brought Anna down into another kiss and let her feel the moans she was eliciting from the blonde as Anna began thrusting her fingers in and out.

"You like that, huh?" Anna muttered as she thrusted her fingers in and out at a steady pace. "Do you want me to go faster, babe?"

"Yes, please!" Brittany moaned, bucking her hips towards Anna's fingers. She bit her lip because she knew they couldn't be too loud since they were keeping their reunion private. She moaned as Anna's lips moved to her neck, and her breathing picked up.

Anna gradually picked up the pace with her thrusts while her lips attacked Brittany's neck. "I wish we didn't have to keep quiet," the brunette whispered in her ear, nibbling on her earlobe as she did so. The blonde responded with a soft moan in Anna's ear as she pleasured the blonde.

"Faster, Anna." Brittany whispered, doing her best to not finish too quickly. "Ah, fuck!"

Anna increased the pace again, starting to pant as she struggled to catch her breath. "How close are you?" She asked the blonde.

"I'm close babe, so close." Brittany whispered, not even caring how it didn't take her that long to get that close to her climax. "Please, finish me baby." Anna nodded and thrusted her fingers even faster, smashing her lips against Brittany's when she felt the blonde's walls begin to clench up. "ANNA!" Brittany moaned loudly as she came and hit her climax; her body was sweating, her heart racing, and her chest heaving. She felt her cum hit Anna's fingers as she came down from her high. "Fuck," she moaned.

Anna kissed up Brittany's body before laying down beside the blonde, catching her breath. "How was that, babe?" The brunette asked.

"That was everything I needed it to be, thank you babe." Brittany said, bringing Anna's hand up to kiss the palm before smiling at her girlfriend. "Would it be okay if I showed you how much I missed you?" She whispered.

Anna nodded and leaned in, kissing Brittany's lips softly. "That would be great," she whispered when their lips parted.

Brittany kissed Anna once more, holding her hips down against the bed. The kiss continued to grow more intense, and the blonde began to grind her hips against Anna's to create some pleasurable friction. Her hand softly scratched against Anna's abs while her lips stayed in contact with Anna's as she continued her other motions.

"Shit," Anna groaned, closing her eyes and leaning back against the pillows. "I've missed this," she moaned softly, biting down on her lip. Brittany smirked and kissed Anna's lips roughly while she continued grinding their hips together.

"I bet you love it when I'm on top of you, huh?" Brittany murmured, tugging on Anna's bottom lip with her teeth.

Anna just nodded, still biting down on her lip to keep herself quiet. "This is so good," she muttered softly, running her fingers through Britt's hair. Brittany lifted Anna up just enough the unclip her bra and drop it to the floor.

"This is only the beginning my love." Brittany whispered, sucking on the skin above Anna's pulse point on her neck.

"Don't make me wait much longer," the brunette murmured, turning her head to the side to give Brittany better access to her neck.

"Oh Anna," Brittany whispered in the girls ear. "You have no idea how badly I've wanted to touch you this last month." She kissed up and down Anna neck softly while pulling Anna's underwear off. "How much I've wanted to make you moan and scream."

"I've wanted to feel your touch for so long," Anna whispered, looking into Brittany's eyes. "I need you so bad."

Brittany brought her thigh up against Anna's core, grinding it against her to pleasure her and make out with her at the same time. "How is that babe?" She asked as her thigh continued to rub against Anna's bundle of nerves.

"That's so, so good Britt. So, so good," Anna muttered, tugging at the ends of Brittany's blonde hair. "Keep going, baby," The brunette moaned softly.

A smirk tugged at Britt's lips as she continued to pleasure Anna, she pinned Anna's arms to the bed and kissed her passionately. One hand massaged one of Anna's breasts while the other turned Anna's head to one side so Brittany could suck a few little hickeys into her skin. "Do you want more baby?"

"Yes please," the brunette whispered softly, another moan rising up in her chest as Brittany began to massage her breasts. Brittany moved her free hand away from Anna's neck and then reached down in between their sweaty bodies and then slowly pushed a finger inside, smiling at the gasp from Anna's lips before adding another digit and beginning to thrust in and out.

Anna's eyes rolled back into her head and she had to bite down on her lip again to keep herself from moaning. "Fuck, keep going," she muttered, gripping onto the sheets of the bed tightly. Brittany smirked and kissed Anna's chest as her fingers thrusted in and out, sucking hickey's into her lover's skin as she did so.

"Tell me what you want baby." Brittany said with a smirk.

"You. I want you to make me feel so good, baby. Please," Anna whispered, looking into Brittany's eyes with desperation. The blonde smiled as Anna whimpered in pleasure, she began kissing down the older girls body and sucked hickey's into her abs before she kissed dangerously close to Anna's wet folds.

"Mmmm, I can't wait to taste you again, baby." Brittany muttered against Anna's skin.

These words only turned Anna on more, and she moaned with anticipation. "Please, baby. I can't wait much longer." Brittany thrusted her fingers at much faster pace while attaching her mouth to Anna's clit, sucking on her wet folds to pleasure her girlfriend in anyway she could. Anna's wet core tasted so good, and Brittany pushed her mouth against it more and more, swirling her tongue around as she felt Anna's hips buck towards her mouth and fingers.

"Fucking hell, Brittany!" Anna groaned, struggling to keep quiet as Brittany pleasured her. "You're making it really hard to keep quiet right now, I hope you know that," the brunette whispered.

The hand that was being used to hold Anna's body down against the bed moved up to cover Anna's mouth, muffling the sexual sounds escaping her lips. Brittany did one long stroke with her tongue on Anna's core before sucking on her folds again, her fingers tugging at Anna's g-spot. She moaned against the girl's core, loving the tasteful meal she was getting.

Anna could feel herself getting close to her climax already and she couldn't care less, loving the feeling that Brittany was giving her. "Fuck, baby! You're so good," she moaned.

"Are you close babe?" Brittany whispered before continuing to pleasure Anna with her mouth as well as her fingers, adding a third one into the mix to intensify the situation. She just wanted to give Anna the most incredible and pleasurable feeling that she had ever experienced.

"What do you think?" Anna muttered back, her walls beginning to clench up as she got closer to her orgasm. "Fuck, please finish me baby." Brittany smirked at Anna's comment and then removed her fingers all together before throwing Anna's legs around her shoulders, starting to give Anna full on head. She pushed her tongue inside of Anna where her fingers had recently been and she began to thrust while her mouth sucked on Anna's core.

"Let it out for me baby," She whispered as Anna gripped her head and pulled her closer.

Moments later, Anna finally hit her climax and a moan fell from the brunette's lips as she did so. "Fuck, Brittany," she murmured, biting down on her lip to try and keep herself quiet. The blonde continued to give her head as she rode out her high.

Once Anna had caught her breath, Brittany kissed a long trail up Anna's beautiful body and smiled when their lips met.

Anna's lips lingered on Brittany's, and the brunette sighed happily. "That...was amazing," she said, smiling widely.

"It really was wasn't it?" Brittany said smiling as their lips parted. "I think you lasted pretty long for this only being your second time. Good job baby."

"You did a good job too," Anna said, smiling and closing her eyes. She opened her eyes after a while, gazing up at Brittany. "I love you," she whispered softly.

"I love you too, Anna." Brittany whispered, catching her breath and leaning her forehead down against Anna's. "And you have no idea how jubilant it makes me feel to hear you say that again." She murmured before rolling off of Anna and getting under the covers with her, their bodies still naked, but neither of them really minded sleeping that way.

Once they were laying on their sides face to face in the dark, Brittany leaned forward again and place a soft kiss on the left hand corner of Anna's lips.

Anna smiled at this, putting her arm around Brittany's waist and pulling the blonde closer to her. "Goodnight, Britt," she murmured.

"I've missed you Anna," Brittany whispered before turning to turn off the lamp in Anna's room. She snuggled into Anna's arms and held on tight. "I love you, and sweet dreams."

"I love you too," Anna mumbled, kissing the side of Brittany's head as her eyes slowly began to close and she felt herself falling asleep.

 **YAYY! Anna has more of her memories and she and Brittany are back together! Will she start to remember the rest sooner? And will James, Anna's father square up and talk to her and tell her the truth about the memories? So much is yet to come!**

 **Until Next Time!**


	23. Chapter 22: A Sliver of Hope

Chapter 22: A Sliver of Hope

The following morning, Terry and Greg called everyone to the cafeteria for a special announcement. Brittany had woken up early so that she could go back to her room and get ready for the day, and also so that nobody would see her with Anna. The brunette was a bit disappointed when she woke up and found herself in an empty bed, but she knew that it was for the best that she and Brittany keep their relationship private for now.

Still, she couldn't help but smile as she thought of the events that conspired last night. Being able to remember everything that had happened between her and Brittany. Every touch, every kiss, every moment that they had shared, good or bad. She bit her lip and smiled to herself. Anna looked up at the ceiling and gazed aimlessly for awhile before getting up to get dressed and heading to cafeteria for the meeting.

When Anna arrived, almost everyone else was already there and sitting in the chairs that had been assembled in front of a large screen. Anna spotted her parents, so she walked over and sat down next to them. "Hey, do you know what this is about?" The brunette asked.

"The first propaganda video was finished yesterday, we're about to release it all around the country." Joan said, nodding her head. "Tell me how your talk with Brittany went before it starts."

Anna smiled, recalling the events from last night. "It was good. Really good," she replied, unable to keep the smile off of her face. "We worked things out, and I'm really glad that we did."

Joan took her daughter's hand and squeezed it. "I'm so happy to hear that sweetie." She kissed her daughter's cheek and then they turned their attention to the front of the room, where Terry and Greg stood in front of everybody.

Terry stood at the microphone and cleared her throat. "I'm sure that you all know why we called this meeting. Recently, we have been spending our time on a campaign that we are hoping will inspire people to join our cause. With the help of Brittany and Lucas Snow," Terry paused, pointing towards the two who were also standing up at the front of the room, "We have successfully finished filming our first video, and we are finally going to release it."

"This video will give a sliver of hope to those who have none." Greg said, smiling at Brittany and Lucas who stood next to them. "Before we begin, let's give our face and voice of the rebellion a round of applause for their hard work."

Everyone in the room stood up and applauded the two of them. Anna smiled and clapped loudly, making eye contact with Brittany for a brief moment before the applause ended and they sat down again. "Now, we are going to broadcast the video in a few minutes, so please wait while we get everything set up for the broadcast," Greg told them.

Brittany leaned in and whispered in Lucas' ear. "Anna and I are back together now," She said. "You can't tell anyone though, I told her a lot of stuff I wasn't supposed to."

Lucas smiled at his sister. "I won't tell anyone, Britt. Your secret is safe with me," he told his sister. "I'm really happy for you, you know that, right? I'm glad that you and Anna finally talked things through."

"You're telling me." Brittany said smiling before an image appeared on the screen behind them. "Ooo, it's starting let's see how it turned out."

Lucas smiled and chuckled at his sister's enthusiasm. "You haven't changed one bit since we were kids," he said, shaking his head and still smiling before he turned his attention to the video that was beginning to play.

It started out with a shot of some footage of Anna and Josh and their little group taking out the Tampa and Seattle shipments, and Lucas was a voiceover. "For too long, the people of our world have lived in fear. Fear of a tyrant, fear of the word 'freedom,' that should mean happiness and peace. Heinrick and his Freedom Healers have ruled for too long, taking the lives of too many innocent people. But we will no longer let that keep us scarce."

Next it showed a shot of Brittany fighting a couple people dressed up to look like Healers for the shoot in the snow just outside the base. "We have already been fighting back, but it is time for us to fight back even harder. And we can't do that alone," Lucas' voice continued. "We need as much help as we can get, because if we want to take down Heinrick and the Freedom Healers, then we're gonna need a hell of a lot more people than we've already got."

"I know speak directly to Heinrick and his Healers. You will not diminish the fire inside of us. For every attack you make, we will come back stronger. Because even a sliver of hope is enough to bring you down. So don't test us, we will be coming for you." The video continued to show footage of battles, Lucas' last words being replayed on a loop before the screen slowly faded to blackness. Everyone in the audience stood up and applauded after the video was over.

Anna smiled over at Brittany, who winked at her as stealthfully as she could. However, this didn't go unnoticed by Greg. Terry then spoke up. "This video has been released all over the country, we will be heard, and we will have our day."

Everyone cheered at Terry's words, smiles all around the room. "You are now dismissed for breakfast," Greg announced into the microphone, and everyone got up and headed for the buffet line. Anna walked with her parents, and she looked over at Brittany and smiled softly before looking away.

Greg pulled Terry aside, whispering to her in a soft voice. "I just saw Anna and Brittany smile at each other. I think that they told Anna some of the things that happened."

"Well if she's taking it well, then what's the problem?" Terry asked, spotting her niece getting food with her parents.

"They disobeyed orders." Greg said. "We specifically told them not to tell Anna because she's not ready to handle all that information at once."

"Don't you think it's been long enough, Greg? We can't keep the truth from her forever," Terry replied, crossing her arms.

"What if it's too much for her to take?" Greg said.

"Well, if they really told her the truth like you think, she seems to be taking it pretty fine to me," Terry said to her husband. "Plus, maybe she'll trust us again. I miss my niece and I think you do too. And Josh has been upset with us for not telling Anna anything because it made her alienate him, I want them both back, Greg." She said genuinely. "It's time that Anna knows the whole truth."

Greg sighed, knowing that his wife was right. "When should we tell her?" He asked, watching Anna as she talked to her parents with a smile on her face.

"Whenever we have the time." Terry mentioned before rolling the screen up.

After breakfast, Brittany and Anna snuck off to Britt's room for some more alone time. The blonde currently was being pinned to the wall as Anna's lips traveled along her neck. "You were so hot in that video, babe." Anna whispered, her hands pinning Brittany's arms to the wall while her kisses attacked Brittany's neck. "Fucking hell you were so hot." She said before kissing across the center of Brittany's neck and moving to the other side while one hand reached under her shirt and massaged Brittany's breast over the sports bra she was wearing.

Brittany moaned softly, pushing Anna's head closer to her skin. "I didn't even do much in the video. I just had that one fight scene, and I didn't even think that I looked hot in it," Brittany mumbled with a little giggle as Anna continued to kiss her skin.

Anna loved the giggle that came from Brittany's lips, she pressed their bodies together and continued to kiss Britt's neck roughly while one hand massaged Britt's breast. The other hand moved from Brittany's arm to her leg, grabbing it and wrapping around her waist. "I thought you looked really sexy in it when you fought off those guys in the video." She murmured, sucking gently but teasingly on Britt's weak spot right under and behind her ear.

Brittany blushed at Anna's compliments. "I thought you looked pretty hot yourself during the footage of you taking out the shipments," she whispered, smiling and turning her head to the side so that Anna could get better access to her neck.

"Oh yeah? Good to know I look sexy while kicking ass." Anna said with a chuckle before sucking a hickey right under her ear. "God your skin is so perfectly smooth, I could touch and kiss it forever and not get sick of it."

"I know for sure that I'll never get sick of the feeling of your lips on my skin," Brittany replied, running her hands up and down Anna's sides as she spoke.

Anna moved her kisses down Brittany's chest and pulled her shirt up to lay kisses all over Brittany's abs before kissing a thorough trail up to Brittany's lips, where their lips smashed together.

Brittany softly moaned into Anna's mouth at the sudden contact. "I love you so much," she whispered, sliding her tongue across Anna's bottom lip.

"You are the love of my life, Brittany Snow." Anna whispered, tugging at Brittany's bottom lip. Her hands pushed Brittany and pinned her more against the wall. "Fuck, I've missed this." She whispered moving her lips to Britt's neck again.

"Believe me, baby, I've missed this too," Brittany murmured back, closing her eyes and moaning again when she felt Anna's lips on her neck. "You're so good at this, baby."

"Thank you, I love it when I hear the moans coming from your lips." Anna whispered, sucking on Brittany's earlobe. It was easy enough to say these girls were going to spend most of their time alone together with their hands roaming each others bodies and the tongues down each others throats in attempts to make up for the month and a half they lost.

Meanwhile, Josh and Gemma were in the training room. They had started to train with each other on a regular basis because they found that they were good at pushing each other to train harder and become better. Currently, Josh and Gemma were both practicing their boxing on one of the punching bags before they would then practice fighting against each other.

"It's good to hear that your sister has gained some of her memory back." Gemma said while they took a little break. "I bet you must be happy."

Josh smiled at her. "I am, I am very happy. It feels good to know my sister is back to normal. Especially because nothing's occupying my mind anymore." He mentioned with a sweet smile. "And I can do this." He whispered before making sure no one was looking. He then placed his hands on Gemma's waist and kissed her lips.

Gemma giggled a little bit when their lips parted. "You know, you can do that whenever you want. And I don't care if people are looking or not," she murmured with a smile.

"Good, because I don't want to hide it either." Josh said before smiling and picking her up and spinning her around. He knew he was falling for the girl, and that this was a flame that would never be put out.

Gemma smiled and giggled more when Josh spun her around. He put her back down on the ground, and she leaned forward and kissed him a second time. "You make me really happy, Josh," she whispered.

"I don't remember ever being this happy in my life." Josh said, biting his lip and still holding her close. "You, there's just something about you. And you always bring out the best in me."

"I can say the same about you," Gemma replied with a smile. She leaned their foreheads together, their lips merely centimeters apart. "I don't know what I'd do without you in my life."

"Then why don't we make this official? We both feel the same way, let's be together for real." Josh said, smiling at her gently. "Would you want that?"

Gemma bit her lip and smiled even wider than she had before. "Yeah, I'd really like that," she said.

"So, will you be my girlfriend Gemma?" Josh asked, smiling at her with his adorable smile.

Gemma leaned forward and kissed Josh, cupping his face with her hands. The kiss lasted a long time, neither of them pulling away until they needed to catch their breath. "Does that answer your question?" Gemma asked with a smile.

Josh decided to be playful and he kissed her this time, placing his hands on her waist and pulling her close. "Yes, it does." He whispered, their lips only millimeters apart.

Skylar was talking with Greg and Terry about a part for him to play in the propaganda videos. He had agreed to it and was now headed to get lunch when Dale pulled him aside to a closet in the middle of the hallway. "Well, hello." He said with a chuckle before she kissed him. "What's this about?"

Dale didn't answer his question, instead backing up against the wall of the closet and pulling Skylar with her with their lips still connected. "What was that meeting that you had to go to about?" She mumbled against his lips.

"They want me to be in the next propaganda video." Skylar whispered, holding her waist and kissing her passionately. He moved her lips to his neck, smiling against her skin.

"That's awesome, Sky. I'm so proud of you," Dale whispered back with a smile. She turned her head to the side so Skylar could have better access to her neck.

"You must have missed me since this morning." Skylar said with a chuckle before kissing her neck and sucking gently. "What have you been up to?" He asked absentmindedly as he paid attention to giving Dale a hickey right behind her ear.

"Missing you and waiting for you to get back from your meeting," Dale said with a cute little giggle, running her fingers through Skylar's hair as she spoke.

Skylar began unbuttoning her shirt slowly, focusing on kissing the girl's neck and collarbone before kissing a trail back up to her lips. "You're adorable, Dale. Adorable and sexy all at the same times." He murmured, continued to unbutton her flannel shirt.

Dale blushed a little at Skylar's words, although he didn't see because the lights were turned off in the closet which made it pretty dark. "You're pretty adorable and sexy yourself, Sky. You're especially sexy right now," Dale murmured back with a quiet moan.

A huge smirk appeared on Sky's face when Dale said that before moaning. "Oh yeah babe? And why is that?" He asked while unbuttoning the last button on her shirt before pulling it off of her body. One hand worked on massaging one of her breast while the other pushed her against the back wall of the deep closet. "Why am I especially sexy right now baby?"

"Well, I get really turned on when you take control, which is what you're doing right now," Dale replied with another soft moan, cupping Skylar's face with her hands and kissing him passionately.

"I think I have an idea of what you want me to do to you right now." Skylar whispered, moving his hands to her bum before squeezing it and kneading like dough. "I think you want my mouth down there, don't you?" He whispered, tugging at her bottom lip with his teeth. The two had been pretty active sexually over the last month and become very, very comfortable with each other, knowing what the other wanted in that specific moment.

Dale nodded her head and moaned into Skylar's mouth as he tugged at her lip with his teeth. "You always know what I want and when," she muttered softly, tugging at the ends of his brown locks of hair.

"I know babe," he whispered. Skylar got on his knees and then pulled her pants down, kissing along her thighs before kissed along her inner thighs and inching closer to her core. "Mmmm, babe. I can feel how hot you are for me, and thats so damn sexy baby." He said, sucking a hickey into Dale's left inner thigh.

Dale could only moan as Skylar got closer and closer to her core, the anticipation building up. "Please, Sky, don't tease me any longer," Dale panted, pushing his head closer to her skin.

Skylar moved her underwear down and began sucking gently on her wet folds to begin, knowing that would get her going even more. "Mmmm," he hummed against her core. "So tasty," he murmured before flicking his tongue around her wet folds and sucking on her clit.

"Fuck, Skylar!" Dale groaned, pushing his head closer to her core as he gave her incredible pleasure. "That feels so good! Keep going baby!"

"Shh babe, not too loud." He whispered, knowing that if they were too loud they'd be caught. He did long strokes up her core with his tongue before sucking hard on her core, knowing how much Dale loved it. Giving Dale head was one of Skylar's favorite things to do, because it pleasured her and she tasted amazing to him. "You taste so good baby."

"You're making it so hard to keep quiet," Dale muttered under her breath, biting down on her lip to keep herself from moaning too loudly. Dale closed her eyes, feeling her walls begin to clench up as each stroke of Skylar's tongue sent her closer to her climax.

"Mmmmm, babe." Skylar groaned as she tugged at his hair. "Don't hold back babe, let go." He whispered, pushing his face into her core and sucking it perfectly, hitting Dale's sweet spot.

"Fucking hell, Skylar," Dale moaned, leaning her head back against the wall of the closet as she finally reached her climax. The blonde pulled Skylar up to his feet after she came down from her high and pulled him in for a kiss. "Thank you for that. It was incredible," she murmured against his lips.

"The pleasure was all mine, trust me baby." Skylar admitted, smiling at Dale with his charming smile before he kissed her once again.

"Do you want me to return the favor now, babe?" Dale asked with a mischievous smirk on her face.

"You are the girl of my dreams, Dale." Skylar said smiling before they flipped around. Now he was against the wall and moaning as she began rubbing his crotch through his jeans. "Oh, fuck. Baby, don't tease me too much. You know you turn me on really easily." He moaned into her mouth.

"I do happen to know that. I also happen to know what you want right now," Dale murmured back, taking his bottom lip between her teeth and tugging at it gently as she continued her motions.

Skylar's muscular chest began to heave slowly, as he could feel himself getting excited. "Tell me what I want, babe." He muttered absentmindedly, loving the anticipation but also dreading the teasing he was about endure.

"I know you want my mouth down here," Dale said, still rubbing his crotch with her hands. "I am right, aren't I?" She asked, smirking at Skylar.

Skylar's jeans were tight as she made him moan. "I do, fuck." He whimpered, feeling himself get more turned on by his dirty talk. "Fuck, fuck, fuck Dale!" He moaned. "Please go down on me." He pleaded, moaning once again when she scratched down his chest over his flannel shirt.

"Don't worry, babe. You won't have to wait much longer," Dale said to him as she unbuckled his jeans and began to pull them down his legs. "You have to promise me that you're going to be quiet, though. We don't want to get caught in here."

"I'll be quiet babe." Skylar moaned softly, pulling his boxers down as well. "Shit, you give me such good head baby." He murmured against her lips.

"I know I do," Dale murmured, lingering on Skylar's lips for a few moments before she began to kiss down his body, slowly lowering herself so she was on her knees. Skylar ran his hand through her blonde hair as he watched her get onto her knees in front of him.

"You're absolutely beautiful babe," Skylar said as he watched her get ready to pleasure him where he needed her mouth the most.

Dale pulled Skylar's boxers down the rest of the way, looking back up at him one last time before she began to give him head, taking the tip in her mouth and beginning to bob her head back and forth slowly.

"Shit," Skylar moaned. He bit his lip to keep quiet as he felt her mouth on his tip, pleasuring him immensely. "Oh Dale, more." He whispered, watching how hot she was while giving him a blow job.

Dale started sucking rougher and bobbing her head faster at Skylar's request, knowing that would increase his pleasure. Her thoughts were confirmed when she felt Skylar push on her head with his hands, and the blonde began to increase the pace once again.

"Ahhhhh, fuck Dale!" Skylar muttered, moving her hair away from her face as she sucked him off good. "Move further onto it babe." He whispered, having rising feelings of ecstacy growing in his body. He wanted her, there and now. "I want to take you after this." He moaned, trying to stay calm and not hit his orgasm too quickly.

Dale moaned at Skylar's words. "I want you to take me too," she mumbled, scratching at his abs with her fingernails as she took all of him into her mouth, bobbing her head even faster now.

"Fuck, watching you do that is so damn hot." Skylar moaned, knowing he was close. "You have no idea how hot it is." He moaned, groaning as she deepthroated his dick. "Shit, I'm close!"

Dale kept going at the same pace, knowing that Skylar would be hitting his orgasm any moment. She moaned softly as a way to turn him on and send him closer to the edge, feeling him once again push on her head.

"Oh Dale, I'm cumming!" He moaned softly as his first orgasm raced through his body. He then pulled her up and kissed her roughly. He slammed her against another wall in the closet, almost knocking over some supplies before his lips went her neck. "It's going to be hard for you to keep quiet once I start making love to you."

"Says the guy who almost blew our cover by pushing me up against the wall too hard," Dale said with a chuckle, her laugh cut off with a moan when Skylar's lips began to attack her neck.

"That's what I thought." He murmured, holding her hips and pressing his hips up against her so their parts were pressed together. "Fuck, I want this so bad." He moaned, grinding his hips against hers. He pulled his shirt over his head and threw it aside before unclipping her bra and letting it fall, putting his mouth on one of her breasts. A smirk played at his lips when Dale tugged at his hair.

"Please don't tease me any longer than you have to," the blonde whimpered, a moan rising up in her throat. "I want you so bad right now, Skylar."

Skylar smirked and then grabbed one of Dale's fit legs, and lifted it up to give him access. He then held it against the wall and line himself up. The young man slowly entered her and moaned softly, kissing her neck and sucking on it to drown out the growing moans in her throat.

Dale moaned as well, closing her eyes as Skylar slowly began to thrust. She then opened her eyes again, turning her head away from Skylar. "Wait, Sky, we forgot a condom. Do you have one with you?" Dale asked.

"Shit, no I don't." Skylar said, groaning and stopping. He didn't want to stop, but he knew how important it was for him to wear one with Dale. "We don't have to if you don't want to risk anything." He whispered.

Dale leaned her head back against the wall and thought for a few moments. Quite frankly, she didn't want to stop either. After a few moments of silence, she spoke up. "No, it's fine. Keep going," Dale whispered, looking into Skylar's eyes.

"Are you sure?" Skylar asked just to be sure. "I know how important it is for you for me to wear one." He said sweetly gazing at her.

Dale nodded her head, smiling at how sweet Skylar was being. "I'm sure. I know that you don't want to stop, and I honestly don't want to either," she said with a cute laugh.

Skylar couldn't help but laugh softly with her before he leaned in and kissed her gently. While the kiss continued, he began to thrust again, making each thrust precise and hard into her. He knew Dale liked it rough and hard when he was inside of her, so that's what he did. "Mmmm, mmmm." He moaned, kissing her neck while picking up his pace slowly.

Dale moaned softly with each of Skylar's thrusts. "Fuck, right there. Keep doing that," she whispered, turning her head to the side to give him better access to her neck. "Fuck, Skylar!" She moaned.

"You're so tight, babe, fucking hell!" Skylar whisper yelled as he sped up just a little bit more with his thrusts. "Do you want me to pick you up and fuck you?" He whispered, as he rolled his hips against hers to cause friction and pleasure for the two of them.

Dale nodded, biting down on her lip. "Please, Skylar, I'm getting close," she moaned softly, cupping his face with her hands and pulling him into a passionate kiss.

"Hold on babe," Skylar said before pulling out of her and picking her up. He wrapped Dale's legs around his waist before backing her up against the wall again, lining up and thrusting deep inside her. This caused them both to let out a whimper and a moan of pleasure. "Fuck this feels so right!" He whispered, kissing her lips. "You like that?" He moaned as he thrusted into Dale's core at a fast and rough pace, his thrusts becoming more uneven and wonderful.

"Yeah, Skylar, I really like that," Dale moaned back, kissing Skylar back as he continued to thrust into her. The blonde softly bit down on Skylar's lip, another moan falling from her lips as Skylar began to thrust faster. "Fuck, keep doing that!"

"Ahh fuck, baby girl!" Skylar moaned. He then changed up his pace, going at an uneven pace to pleasure Dale in a way he never had before. Skylar would do three quick thrusts and then pause before doing two, or really any other number. "I'm so close baby!"

"I'm close too," Dale moaned, kissing Skylar's lips roughly as her walls began to clench up. "Faster, baby! Faster!"

This made the young man go harder and harder with his thrusts before kissed her neck. "Fuck! You like that?" He moaned.

Dale just moaned in response, closing her eyes and tugging at the ends of Skylar's hair. "I'm so close," she murmured, starting to pant as she struggled to catch her breath.

"Me too babe, god this feels so good!" He moaned, holding her hips against the wall so he could increase his pace and pleasure Dale as they both got very, very close to their climaxes.

Dale knew that it would only take a few more of Skylar's thrusts to send her over the edge. "Fuck, keep going baby!" She moaned, her fingernails digging into the skin of Skylar's back.

Skylar knew he was going to hit his orgasm before Dale so he pulled out and came, moaning and sucking on her neck before getting on his knees and began stroking his tongue in and out of her. He hoped this would help her hit climax. "How about that baby?"

Dale closed her eyes and leaned back against the wall as Skylar began to give her head again. "Oh my god, Sky," she moaned, pushing his head closer to her core. It didn't take very long for the blonde to reach her climax, and she hit down on her lip to keep quiet as she did so.

Sky pushed two fingers into her, thrusting his fingers in and out fast and hard to help Dale ride out her climax while he ate her out. He moaned, loving her taste. His hand tugged at her g-spot and sucked his fingers clean once she slid down against the wall as her legs gave out from the orgasm. "That had to be the hottest thing I've ever seen."

Dale took deep breaths to help herself catch her breath, smiling softly as she looked into Skylar's eyes. "That was really nice. Thank you for that, I really needed it."

"I love you," Skylar whispered before kissing her lips gently. "And that was incredible. "Who knew closet sex could add so much extra adrenaline?" He chuckled before kissing her again.

Dale giggled at Skylar's words. "Maybe we'll have to start having closet sex more often, then," she murmured, smiling into the kiss.

"Maybe, but we have been pretty adventurous." Skylar murmured with a smile. "We had some fun in the showers the other day. And then in the main hangar bay at midnight a few days ago." Skylar said smiling. "I love how frisky you are, how you're not afraid of making love in interesting places."

"You're pretty frisky yourself," Dale said, giggling cutely again. "But I guess I am pretty adventurous. It's not hard to be when you're so irresistible."

"You find me irresistable, huh?" Skylar said smiling, and looking at his girlfriend. "What's so irresistible about me?" He then leaned in and kissed her.

"There are so many things that I find irresistible. It would take forever if I tried to list off everything. I can give you a few things, or the whole list if you want," Dale said, smiling as their lips parted.

"Why don't you tell me a few things and then I'll tell you some of the things I find irresistible about you? Does that sound good?" Skylar said, pulling her onto his lap.

Dale nodded, leaning in and slowly kissing Skylar's lips. "Where should I start?" She said with a giggle. "Well, one thing that I love about you is how kind you are. You've always been a sweet person and I love how kind you are to everyone, not just to people you know. Another thing I love about you is how brave you are. You're one of the strongest people I know, and I know that I'm always safe when I'm with you," Dale said, smiling and leaning their foreheads together.

Skylar leaned in and kissed her before he began to list his the things he loved. "One thing to start off with you is you always put your friends and loved ones first. You have the most amazing laugh and your smile. The way you never give up, and you fight harder than anyone to protect the ones you love."

Dale smiled and blushed a little as she listened to Skylar speak. After he finished speaking, Dale leaned in and pecked his lips before continuing to list off things she loved about him. "Another thing I love about you is that you've done so much for me, even when we weren't together. You've saved my life so many times, and there's no way I'll ever be able to repay you for that," Dale murmured softly.

"And I'll never be able to repay you for saving me all the times that you have as well." Skylar said with a smile before he kissed her one more time.

Dale smiled, her lips lingering on Skylar's for a few extra moments. When they pulled away from the kiss, she leaned their foreheads together. "We should probably get dressed now," she said with a chuckle.

"We probably should." Skylar said with a laugh before he stood up and then held out his hand for Dale. Then they got dressed and fixed their hair to not look too suspicious before they headed out to go meet everyone for dinner. Sky reached for Dale's hand as they walked down the hallway towards the mess hall.

Dale squeezed Skylar's hand a few times and smiled at him as they made their way towards the mess hall. "I know I've already said it so many times, but I love you," Dale said, leaning in and kissing Skylar's cheek.

"I love you too, Dale." He said before he kissed her lips gently and they got to the mess hall. They got their food and then went to sit with Gemma and Josh and Sam. They also saw Jared and Jason, the former Healers sitting there as well.

"Hey guys," Josh said with a smile as Dale and Skylar joined them at their table. "How's your day been so far?" He asked.

Dale and Sky looked at each other and then smiled. "It's been pretty relaxing for the most part. What about you guys?" Skylar asked.

"Same here. Josh and I went to the training room for a little bit in the morning," Gemma replied, smiling at Josh who blushed a little bit as he looked over at his new girlfriend.

"That's great, I heard Anna has some more of her memories back." Dale said smiling. "I have to tell you, it was a great idea to have your mom talk to her."

Josh smiled. "Thanks. I figured that she would be the best person to try to convince Anna to talk to Brittany. Anna listens to our mom more than anyone else I know."

"Well that's good to know, because the more she knows the closer we will be to having our friend back. And you having your sister back." Skylar mentioned, smiling at his buddy.

Ester and Meleike came and sat with them a few minutes later. "Did you guys hear? Heinrick apparently sent a message back to us." Ester stated.

"Wait, what? When did this happen?" Josh asked, a confused look on his face.

"We heard about it just a few minutes ago. We don't know what the message is, but I'm sure we'll find out soon enough," Meleike replied.

"I can tell you guys this," Jason said scooting closer. "Whatever he responds to us with, it's not going to be good. Heinrick has never taken a threat lightly."

"Well, if there is one good thing that we can take from this, it's that we know he received the message and we know that he's taking this seriously," Dale said. "Now we just have to be prepared to fight back against him if we need to."

"He's going to retaliate," Jared stated. "He always does, let's just hope he hasn't located the base, because once he does, he will cause all sorts of chaos on everyone here."

"If he comes for us, we're going to be ready. And hopefully we will have had more people join our side by then. If Heinrick has received the message, then that means that other people must have too," Josh said.

Just then they heard a loud bang and felt the whole room shake. "That's not good." Skylar said.

Suddenly Terry ran into the cafeteria. "Everyone proceed downstairs to the war bunkers! Heinrick sent in bombers and they're not far away!"

Everyone stood up from their tables and headed for the stairs which would take them down to the bunkers. "Everyone, do not panic! Just head for the bunkers as quickly as you can! We need to get down there and make sure everyone is safe!" Greg told them as they began to go downstairs.

Everyone made their way down to their bunkers in an orderly fashion before they made sure everyone made it down there. Brittany and Anna were the last two people and they found Lucas and the others, deciding to go sit with them.

"It's Heinrick, isn't it? He's found us?" Anna said to Lucas as they sat together, everyone a bit on edge ever since the explosions started to get louder after the first one.

"I think so, he never sits in silence after being threatened." Lucas mentioned.

Brittany wrapped her arms around Anna and lay her head on the girl's shoulder. "It's going to be okay baby."

"I hope so. I just don't know how he found us," Anna murmured, sighing and running her fingers through her hair.

"We made ourselves known, and Heinrick has quick tracking once he receives information." Jared mentioned. "We are going to be alright for now, this is his way of warning us."

"What happens next? What happens if we don't listen to his warning and keep making the propaganda videos?" Anna asked Jared. ;

"Well, eventually he will bring an army. And as impressive as our numbers are here, Heinrick has hundreds of thousands of soldiers under his command." Jared stated, looking down with genuine worry on his face.

"Hopefully that one propaganda video you made will get more people on our side." Jason mentioned.

"It will probably bring in some more people, but there's no way that we can get as many people as Heinrick has. It would take a ton of soldiers to desert from him, and that's a long shot considering how dangerous it is," Jared said.

Brittany looked down for a moment, thinking to herself as another blast hit the base, shaking the floor. "Making the video and sending it to him wasn't a mistake though, was it?"

"No, it wasn't a mistake. We needed to get our message out there, and we did. Now we just have to deal with the consequences," Jason said. "Even though we may have to face him again in battle, he knows that we're going to do what it takes to stop him, and other people that want to stop him will help us."

Gemma held onto Josh's arm tightly as another blast shook the room. "Are you alright?" Josh asked.

"This is my worst fear," Gemma said. "Being buried alive in a small room." She whispered, obviously trembling.

"Hey, it's going to be okay. We're not going to be buried alive down here. We just have to wait until the bombers pass, and then we'll be safe. I'm not going to let anything happen to you," Josh told her in a gentle voice.

The girl lay her head on her boyfriend's shoulder and closed her eyes, letting him hold her near him. "Can you just hold me till it's over?" She whispered.

"Of course I can," Josh whispered back, putting his arms around Gemma's waist and holding her tightly to calm her down. He kissed the side of her head. "Everything's going to be okay, babe. I promise," he murmured in her ear.

Anna noticed this exchange between the two, and a small smile appeared on her face. She hadn't ever seen Josh so protective over someone besides herself over the years. Seeing the way he was holding Gemma and talking sweetly to her made Anna's heart warm as she was happy to see her brother have someone like that. Yes, a part of her was still upset for him lying, but seeing him hold and comfort Gemma made her smile softly. Her brother had finally found someone.

A few minutes later, Terry stood up and spoke with Greg for a few minutes before addressing the group. "It's been a while since we have heard a bomb go off, so we are going to send up a few people to make sure that it is safe for the rest of us to leave the bunker. Do we have any volunteers who would be willing to go?"

Samantha stood up. "I'll go," She stated. A few other men stood up and volunteered.

"I'll go as well." Jason said, raising his hand as he stood up.

"Alright, that should enough." Greg stated. "Everyone who volunteered follow me."

Gemma stood up and took Sam's hand. "Be careful okay?" She said before hugging her sister.

"Don't worry, I'll be okay," Sam replied with a smile as she hugged her younger sister. "I'll be back in no time," she said, pulling back from the embrace after a few moments and following the others who had volunteered to the door of the bunker.

"Stay safe Sam," Gemma said, reluctant to let her younger sister go.

"Be careful man," Jared told Jason. "You got family at home waiting for you once this whole thing is over."

"I know. I've made it this far. I'm not going to go down now," Jason replied. "We both have people at home waiting for us. I just hope that we can end this once and for all so that we can go back home."

Jared nodded and then headed over to the group going up. Anna looked up at Greg and saw him going up to the top level. For awhile it seemed silent, and everything seemed to be in the clear. Brittany held Anna's hand and Gemma kept close to Josh.

As soon as everyone was finally beginning to relax, another explosion occurred, although this one didn't just cause the walls of the bunker to shake. Dust started falling from cracks in the ceiling that were slowly beginning to form. Anna felt her heart drop as she realized that this explosion had been far worse than the previous ones. Her heart dropped even more when she remembered that there were people on the top level where the explosion was. "Oh my god, Uncle Greg's up there!"

"Sam!" Gemma screamed trying to get up to go get her sister before she was pulled back by Josh.

"We don't know if it's safe." He said. "Stay here," he whispered.

"Josh, Uncle Greg was up there!" Anna said rushing over to him, tears welling up in her eyes. "We have to go find him and see if he's okay."

"Anna, we can't. We need to stay down here. What if we go up there and another explosion happens? We have to stay put for now and wait until we're absolutely sure that the bombers are gone before we go up there," Josh told his younger sister in a calm voice.

The minutes seemed like hours while they waited to make sure that it was safe to return to the upper level. After about thirty minutes, Josh grabbed Brittany, Anna, and the rest of their group to go up there, including Jared.

They went to the roof of the base, seeing the small amount of debris from the explosions. Smoke was everywhere once they made it up there and saw several bodies laying there. "Oh my god," Anna said, covering her mouth with her hand as she looked at the devastation that the bombs had caused. The smoke was pretty thick so it was hard to see, but Anna could still make out the outlines of six bodies. "Uncle Greg! Where are you? Are you okay?" The brunette called out, coughing as she breathed in the smoke.

Meanwhile, everyone checked on the other bodies. Sam and Jason still had a pulse, which made Josh breathe a sigh of relief for Gemma's sake. Anna rushed over to Greg's body, lifeless like the others. "Uncle Greg, wake up! Wake up!" She yelled, tears appearing in her eyes. "Come on wake up!" She screamed, taking him in her arms.

The man lay there unresponsive in her arms, and Brittany knew he was gone. Fire wounds covered his body from the explosion, and he had lost too much blood. Brittany walked over to Anna and hugged her. "Anna, he's gone."

"No, he can't be gone," Anna said, pushing Brittany away and still trying to wake up her uncle. "Come on, Greg! Wake up! You've got to wake up! Please," the brunette said, her voice breaking with emotion as tears streamed down her face. "Please wake up," she sobbed, holding her head in her hands.

Josh yelled at the others to take Sam and Jason to the hospital wing, as well as one of the other men who came up with the group. Greg and two others had been killed by the explosion. He checked Greg's pulse and then tears up when he didn't that or his breathing. He was gone. "Anna, shh. Shh," He said as he took her in his arms, holding as tears fell down his cheeks.

Anna leaned into her brother's embrace, crying into his shirt as she held onto him. "T-tell me he's not gone, Josh. Tell me he's not dead," she whispered, sniffling a few times. She looked back over at her uncle's body, beginning to sob again. "He can't be gone. He just can't."

Josh didn't know what to say, so he just held Anna in his arms. "Anna," he whispered as he hugged his sister for the first time in nearly two months. His voice was choked up. "He's gone, Anna."

Anna didn't say anything, hugging her brother tightly as her sobs started to get quieter. After a silence between them, she spoke up again. "What are we gonna tell Aunt Terry?" She asked, her voice hoarse from crying.

As he contemplated what to say, Josh just shook his head. "There's only one thing we can do, we tell her the truth." He said before they lay there, beside their uncles body, holding onto each other for what seemed like forever.

 **Poor Anna and Josh, they've experienced their first loss.**

 **Heinrick certainly retaliated.**


	24. Chapter 23: Sibling Rivalry

Chapter 23: Sibling Rivalry

A week had passed since Heinrick had bombed the base, and soon came the day for the funerals of Greg and the other two men that had been killed. Anna was having a hard time coping with the loss of her uncle and had barely spoken at all in that last week, spending most of her days in her room alone in her thoughts. The rest of her family was also struggling, especially Terry, who was now having to adjust to life without her husband.

Brittany walked into Anna's room before the funeral, and walked up to her and wrapped her arms around her girlfriend's waist. "Hey," she said simply before kissing the girl's neck and allowing a silence between them. Anna leaned back into Brittany's embrace, closing her eyes and sighing as the blonde kissed her neck.

After a few minutes of silence, she spoke up. "I don't want to have to say goodbye," she said, her voice quiet. "Is it okay that I don't want to say goodbye to my uncle?"

"I can understand why you don't want to." Brittany murmured against Anna's skin before holding the older girl closer to her. "But saying goodbye will help you begin to heal."

"I just want to have him back, you know? I wish I could go back to when he was still alive and stay there. It's hard without him. It feels like we were just reunited after being apart for so long, and now he's gone," Anna said, looking down as tears welled up in her eyes.

"I know, babe. I'm so, so sorry." Brittany turned Anna around and pulled her into a tight embrace, just letting Anna cry if she needed to, for however long she needed to before the funeral. She didn't speak, because she knew no matter what she said wouldn't help at that moment.

Anna softly began to cry into Brittany's shoulder, holding the blonde close to her as she did so. "I just miss him so much. He didn't deserve to die. Nobody deserved to die that day," she whispered, a few tears running down her face.

"You're right, they didn't deserve it whatsoever. And we will honor them to today and avenge them later. But for now, it's okay to mourn and grieve for them, at least they get a funeral with all their loved ones there. And you're going to keep him with you in your heart. Always and forever."

Anna nodded, pulling away from the embrace and wiping away her tears. She turned around and looked in the mirror, taking a deep breath. "Well, we might as well go get this over with," she said with a sad voice, looking down at the floor before walking towards the door of her room.

"Just squeeze my hand if you feel like crying." Brittany said smiling sympathetically before kissing Anna's forehead. "I'll be with you through it all."

"Thank you. I really appreciate that," Anna said, smiling softly as she and Brittany began to walk down the hallway together hand-in-hand.

"Of course babe, I'm right here for you." Brittany said as they made to the main hangar.

They were some of the first people to get to the hangar, everyone filing into the room slowly and quietly as they arrived. Anna spotted her parents and her aunt near the front of the room, so she walked towards them. "Hey everyone," she said in a soft voice, smiling sadly at them.

"Hello, darling." Joan said, walking up and hugging her daughter tightly.

Brittany looked around and easily spotted the families of the other two men that had been killed in the explosion. Her heart hurt for them, because she knew what it was like to lose the ones you love. She walked up and hugged Terry. "I'm so sorry for your loss." She muttered as they broke up the hug.

Terry nodded, sniffling a little bit as a few tears fell down her face. "He died a hero. That's all that he wanted. He wanted to die a hero," she said to Brittany, looking down at the floor and wiping away her tears.

"Greg was very brave, and so many people here will remember him as a hero and a kind person who fought for what he believed in." Brittany said genuinely. She took Terry's hand and squeezed tight. "If you ever need anything, you have so many people here who will talk to you. Including me."

Terry smiled sadly at Brittany. "Thank you, Brittany. That means a lot to me. It really does. I know that we haven't always had the best relationship, and I appreciate your support," she told the blonde.

"Well, I know what it's like to lose the people you love." Brittany said, shrugging her shoulders before she continued to speak. "And even though we haven't seen eye to eye in the past, no one should have to go through something like this."

Terry nodded, then looked over at Anna, who was speaking with her parents. "I'm sorry that I kept you and Anna apart for so long. You didn't deserve that. We were just trying to do what was best for her, but we made the wrong decision."

"I know you felt you were doing what was best for her." Brittany stated.

"Yes, but that cause so much friction between you two." Terry mentioned. "She wanted to know and we wouldn't let you tell her anything and caused her to shut you out."

Brittany nodded, looking down at the floor. "Having her turn away from me hurt more than anything, but it was what had to happen for her to begin to heal, and I can respect that," she said after a moment of silence, looking back up at Terry.

"You're something else, Brittany." Terry said, shaking her head and smiling a half smile. "That's why we chose you to be the face of our rebellion. You're a leader, and you're willing to show forgiveness. That's something Heinrick has never shown, and that's what's going to win us our freedom." She looked over at her niece and then back at Brittany. "I can see why Anna loves you." She said before patting Britt's shoulder and walking away.

When Terry walked away, Anna walked up to Brittany. "What did she say to you?" The brunette asked, taking her girlfriend's hand in hers and squeezing it gently.

"I gave my condolences to her and she apologized for isolating me from you." Brittany said squeezing her hand back. "I told not to worry, because even though it hurt like hell being away from you, I have you now and that's all that matters." She said smiling gently. "Then she told me she could see why you love me."

Anna smiled a little at Brittany's last words. "Well, that's good. I'm glad that she's not upset about you telling me the truth. I figured that she knew since we've been around each other a lot more and have both been a lot happier."

"Which means we can be back together in the open now." Brittany mentioned with a big smile on her face.

"I know that I'll definitely like that," Anna said, smiling back at Brittany before leaning in and kissing her girlfriend's cheek.

Everyone took their seats before Terry got up to talk about her fallen husband and the two other men who were killed. Their names were Brian Winters and Jeffrey Fox. Everyone was silent as they listened to Terry speak about the three men that had died, the only sound coming from those who were quietly crying as they listened to Terry's emotional speech.

After Terry's speech, both of Anna's parents spoke about Greg, and then some family members of Brian and Jeffrey got up and spoke as well. Anna leaned her head on Brittany's shoulder as the speeches went on, doing as Brittany had told her to and squeezing her girlfriend's hand a couple times when she felt tears welling up in her eyes.

They gave them a rifle salute, shooting the guns out of the hangar. Once the funeral was over, Josh took Gemma back to her room. "How is Samantha doing right now?" Josh asked once they went into the room and locked the door.

"She's doing better. She has a fractured left ankle from some debris landing on her during the explosion, so right now she can't put weight on it or move it too much. She still has some trouble breathing after inhaling so much smoke, but it's getting better," Gemma replied.

"That's good to know. I'm just glad we got her inside before it was too late." Josh mentioned, sitting down on his bed. "I just wish I could've saved my uncle Greg and those two other men. I've never lost anyone before, and I feel like I could've done more." He said putting his head in his hands.

"Hey, it's okay Josh," Gemma said, putting a hand on his shoulder. "There wasn't anything else you could have done. This was out of our control. I wish I could've done more to protect my sister, but I couldn't have done anything else. You did the best that you could," she told him in a soothing voice.

"I lost my uncle, Gemma." Josh said, looking at her. "And the worst thing about it was that we weren't on good terms, we had been arguing about not telling Anna her past, and I never got the chance to make things right with him."

Gemma nodded, listening to her boyfriend as he spoke. "I'm sure that he's forgiven you, and that he's proud of how brave you were. You risk your life on every mission that you go on. You help save countless lives every day. You've made him proud. You've made me proud. You've made everyone proud with all the good things you've done. Don't beat yourself up over this. I highly doubt that your uncle would hold a grudge on you after everything you've done to help the rebellion."

Josh lay his head on her shoulder as she spoke, tearing up and feeling two hot tears fall down his left cheek. "I wish I could've told him how sorry I am." He said, not wanting to move from where they were.

Gemma put her arms around Josh and hugged him tightly. "I know. I'm so sorry, Josh," she said softly, running her fingers through his hair. "If there's anything I can do to help, please let me know." Josh rested his face in the crook of Gemma's neck as she held him close.

"Just stay here with me," Josh whispered, resting his hand on her arm.

"Okay. I will," Gemma whispered back, still hugging Josh tightly as they sat there on the bed together.

"You know, I've never told you this. But thank you for always being there for me when I need you," Josh murmured as they lay down on the bed and held each other tight.

"I'm just doing what any good girlfriend would do. You don't need to thank me," Gemma said, smiling softly at Josh's words.

"I'm talking about before you were my girlfriend as well," Josh said smiling softly at his hand as it traced soft shapes on her arm. "You have been kind to me since day one, you've always put a smile on my face."

Gemma blushed at Josh's words. "I've always tried to be nice to other people. Making other people happy makes me happy. It's good to know that I can do that for you," she said, smiling at Josh.

"I hope I make you as happy as you make me." Josh whispered, smiling to himself and closing his eyes for a moment as Gemma lay facing him on her side.

"Of course you make me happy, Josh. You've made me happier than anyone else ever has. I don't know where I'd be if I hadn't met you," Gemma replied.

This made Josh smile a bit more before he opened his eyes, looking lovingly into her emerald green eyes. "Me neither, it's pretty cool that we found each other."

"Yeah, it is pretty cool. I'm glad that we found each other. There's nobody else that I'd rather be with," Gemma murmured back, gazing back into Josh's eyes.

Josh leaned in and kissed Gemma's lips softly and only for a short moment before pulling away. "I also really like being able to do that."

Gemma smiled, closing her eyes for a few moments before reopening them. "I really like being able to do that too," she said, leaning in and kissing Josh's lips again.

"Can we do this for awhile?" Josh asked softly. "I feel like kissing you lets me forget about everything else for little bit."

"Yeah, of course. We can do this for as long as you like," Gemma murmured back, connecting their lips in another kiss.

"Okay, cool." Josh said smiling before wrapping his arms around her waist. "I just wanted to make sure you weren't sick of kissing me."

"I could never be sick of kissing you, Josh," Gemma said with a cute little giggle. "And I hope that you'll never get sick of kissing me."

"Never," Josh murmured before kissing her gently, placing his hand on her waist. "I'll never get sick of you, or your kisses."

"That's good to know," Gemma murmured with a happy sigh, smiling into the kiss and running her fingers through Josh's hair.

Meanwhile, Joan went to go comfort her sister. "Hey, Terry." She said, sitting down next to her at a table in the mess hall.

"Hey, Joan," Terry said, smiling softly at her sister. She wiped away some tears that had fallen down her face, sniffling a little as well. "What brings you here?" She asked.

"I thought I'd come and comfort my sister." Joan said, putting an arm around her. "It's a rough time, and I wanted to let you know that I'm here when you need me."

Terry smiled softly at her sister's words. "Thank you. It means a lot to hear you say that," she said in a soft voice, looking down for a few moments. "I'm not sure how I'm going to be able to get by every day without him."

"You have a whole base of people who will be there to help you get through this." Joan stated softly. "Yes there will be days that just feel like the pain is never ending, but we will be with you and we will help you heal."

Terry nodded, looking back up at her sister. "I miss him so much," she said, tears beginning to fall again. "I just wish I could've told him how much I loved him before he died."

"He knew how much you loved him Terry, I believe that." Joan mentioned. "He loved you with everything that he was, and he knew you loved him with everything that you are." She said before hugging her sister in her arms. "He's always going to be with us Terry, in our hearts. He will never really be gone."

Terry nodded, trying to maintain a positive attitude. "You're right. He wouldn't want me to be mourning. He would want me to be remembering all the good times that we had together, and he would want me to fight harder in his memory," she said, leaning into her sister's embrace.

"Exactly, and do it for your children too. Do it for Veronica, and for Carter, and for Gregory Jr. They look up to you, and they will need their mom more than anything right now." She said, kissing the side of her sisters head.

Terry nodded her head. "Being there for them will help to take my mind off of the fact that he's no longer here with us," she said, standing up. "I'm going to go spend some time with my children. Thank you for being here with me."

"Of course Terry, whatever you need. You're my sister." Joan said before letting her sister leave the hall.

The next few weeks went by quickly and Anna was back to full strength and had most of her memories recovered. Samantha and Jason were both recovering and on bedrest till their injuries healed.

Everyone else who wasn't injured spent their time training and preparing for any retaliation that may come from Heinrick. Anna and Josh had been training a lot together recently, practicing on their hand-to-hand combat to prepare for the next battle.

Brittany was training with Gemma on hand to hand combat. The reason Anna wasn't training with Brittany and Gemma wasn't training with Josh was because they got distracted with their significant others. So they decided to switch it up. Currently, Gemma was practicing martial arts with Brittany while Anna and Josh were practicing boxing.

Anna and Josh were warming up with punching bags before they were going to practice their boxing with each other. They each had a set of boxing gloves on and were working on their basic punches. After a few more minutes, Anna grabbed her water bottle and took a few sips of it before walking over to Josh. "I'm ready when you are."

"Alright then, I'll go occupy the ring." Josh said, walking over to the boxing ring and stepping in. He threw punches into the air as he waited for Anna to join him in the ring.

Anna set down her water bottle on one of the chairs by the ring before stepping inside the ring. She saw Josh throwing punches into the air, and she chuckled. "Getting ready to lose, huh?"

"Ha! In your dreams, shortie." Josh said with a smirk as his younger sister stepped inside the ring. "Don't expect me to take it easy on you now." He added putting his hands up and getting ready for his boxing match with sister.

"I'm not expecting you to take it easy on me. And you shouldn't expect me to take it easy on you," Anna replied, putting her hands up and getting in her fighting stance.

"Oh I know you won't." Josh said smirking when he dodged Anna's first punch with ease.

Britt looked over while she and Gemma took a break, giggling at her girlfriend. "She looks so good right now." She said to herself.

Gemma looked over at Josh and smiled to herself. "So does he," she added, biting her lip as she watched her boyfriend.

Anna ducked as Josh threw a punch at her. "Is that all that you got?" The brunette said with a smirk on her face. Josh got down and threw a sweep kick, which knocked Anna over.

This made the boy chuckle. "You're seriously asking me that question?" He said smirking at his sister as she stood up.

Anna chuckled a little and nodded her head. "Yeah, I'm seriously asking you that question. In fact, I'll ask you that again. Is that all you got?" She asked, landing a punch on his side which made him cough a little.

"That punch was weak, I've trained a five year-old kid who punches harder than you." Josh teased before kneeing her in the stomach.

Anna scoffed a laugh at Josh's words. "Yeah, I'm sure. And I trained a two year-old kid who kneed me in the stomach harder than you just did," she fired back with a smirk.

"Are you gonna talk or fight?" Josh shot back, smiling and chuckling when he dodged two of Anna's punches before punching her in the stomach hard enough to have her wobble backwards into the ropes needing to catch her breath.

Anna coughed a little bit, taking deep breaths to help catch her breath before holding her hands up again. "Who says I can't do both?" She said, lunging forward and punching Josh twice, one to the stomach and the other to his jaw.

"Now that's more like it." Josh said smiling before delivering another shot to Anna's stomach and then a hard kick to the side of her waist.

The two continued to exchange punches for a while before taking a short break to catch their breath and rehydrate. "You know, I still think that I have the edge as of now, but you sure are giving me a run for my money," Anna said to her brother as she took a sip from her water bottle.

"Bullshit," Josh said. "If anything, we're even. No one has taken upper hand yet." He mentioned, smiling at his sister as he wiped his sweaty forehead with a towel he had on the side of the ring.

"If you insist, then I guess you're right. That will change very soon, though," Anna said, putting her water bottle down and walking back to the center of the ring.

"Yup, it will." Josh mentioned. "Because I'm about to kick your ass, shortie." He said with a huge smirk on his face. He took one more sip of water before going back out to join Anna.

"You know, I think it's really funny that you always make fun of my height. Last time I checked, we had the same parents. You're no tall drink of water yourself," Anna said, putting on her boxing gloves.

"I'm six feet tall. I'm pretty sure that about ten inches taller than your five foot two, buddy." He said, putting his boxing gloves back on.

"Those two love to give each other smack talk don't they?" Gemma said chuckling as she and Brittany continued to practice martial arts with each other.

"Yeah, it sure seems like it," Brittany said, chuckling as well. "It seems like they've been smack talking each other more than they've actually been fighting each other."

"Seems like it." Gemma smiled and looked over at her boyfriend. "They're pretty funny, we're both pretty lucky to have such sweet but strong partners in our lives like those two."

"You're right about that," Brittany said, smiling and watching as Anna and Josh continued their boxing. "I don't know what I'd do without having her by my side."

"I've never been in love," Gemma said, smiling to herself. "But with Josh, I've felt something I've never felt before. He makes me happy, he makes me laugh." She started off. "His eyes, his smile, the way he protects the people he's closest to. He makes me a better person, and I can't describe it."

"I think you've just described why you love him." Brittany said smiling at Gemma as she recalled the reasons why she cared about Josh so much.

"I guess I did," Gemma said, giggling a little bit. "He's just so important to me, and I'm so lucky that I get to call him mine."

"Have you guys said it yet? That you love each other?" Britt asked. When Gemma shook her head Britt continued. "Well, I definitely think you should tell him how you feel."

"I want to. I'm just nervous. I mean, what if he's not ready to say it yet? It'd be really awkward if I told him how I felt and he didn't feel the same way," Gemma said, looking down at the floor.

"The night Josh, Anna and I left to go to Heinrick, you took a risk and kissed Josh before he left." Brittany said. "Love is about taking risks and adjusting to the outcome. Anna took a risk when she told me how she felt, now look at us. I didn't feel the same way at first. But Gemma," Brittany said, taking a deep breath. "Everyone sees it, they know how much time you two spend together. And when his uncle got killed in the explosion, you were the one he went to to confide in, not Anna, not even his parents."

"Yeah, that does mean something," Gemma said. "I just really care about him, Brittany. I don't want to do anything that would mess up our relationship. I know that me telling him that I love him probably won't screw everything up, but I don't want to risk losing him. I don't know what I'd do if that happened."

"Take it from someone who's screwed up a lot in her relationship." Brittany said shrugging. "If you two are meant to be together, everything will work itself out." She said before they continued to to practice.

Meanwhile, Josh and Anna were still boxing and still nobody had gotten an edge. They took another short break before they began boxing again. "One of us has got to give at some point, and I'm going to make sure that it's not me," Anna said as she threw a punch at Josh.

"If you know me at all, you know I never give in." Josh said smiling at her and dodging her swing. He then looked away for a moment when he spotted Gemma taking off her shirt and training in her sports bra. Damn she looked hot, he thought to himself.

That's when Anna pounced, kneeing him in the face and then punching him in the gut twice. Josh stumbled and fell to the ground, and Anna stood over him with a triumphant smirk on her face. "It looks like someone got a little distracted," she said, chuckling and placing her foot on his chest so he couldn't get up. "Do you surrender?" She winked Brittany's way.

Josh twisted her foot and flipped her over, pinning her down as she coughed and groaned in pain. "Why don't we continue this tomorrow? I think we can decide the winner after we've had some rest time."

Anna nodded. "Yeah, I don't think this fight is going to be over anytime soon, and I could certainly use some time to rest before we continue," she said, getting back up on her feet.

"Plus, I think there are some other things we'd rather focus on for the time being." He said with a chuckle before looking over at Gemma. Josh then looked back at his sister and smiled. "And I think you know what I mean." He said, noticing the way Anna was watching Britt.

"Yeah, I know what you mean," Anna said, grabbing her towel and water bottle before stepping out of the ring. "Same time tomorrow?" She said, turning back towards Josh.

"Same time tomorrow," Josh mentioned, smiling and letting his sister out of the ring. He then let himself out and walked over to Gemma. "Hey," He said with a sweet smile when he put his hands on her waist.

"Hey to you too," Gemma said, smiling at her boyfriend. She leaned in and pecked his lips. "You were doing a great job in your fight," she said, smiling and biting her lip.

"Thanks," Josh said, smiling at her. When she bit her lip at him he took a deep breath, because he thought it was pretty hot when she did that. "You seemed pretty on top of it over here." He added, leaning her forehead against his. "I bet you could take on Heinrick's entire army."

Gemma giggled at Josh's words and shook her head. "I don't think I'm ready to take on his entire army yet, but I'm getting there," she said, smiling at him. "You on the other hand, I bet you could take on all of Heinrick's soldiers."

"With you at my side, I have no doubt in my mind that that is true." Josh answered. He tucked some sweaty, hair out of Gemma's face and leaned in to kiss her. "You're stronger than you believe, you know that?"

Gemma blushed at Josh's words and nodded her head. "Thank you," she said softly, closing the distance between them and kissing Josh's lips sweetly. "Hearing you say that means a lot to me."

"Well, I wouldn't say it if it weren't the truth." Josh said, smiling as their lips parted. He noticed the way Gemma was looking at him and he gazed back at her. "Is there something on your mind?"

Gemma shook her head, smiling at Josh. "Nothing really. I was just thinking about how lucky I am to have you as my boyfriend. That's all," she told him, still smiling.

"Okay, that's sweet of you." Josh said smiling back at her. "I think that I'm lucky to have you as a girlfriend."

Gemma smiled and kissed Josh's cheek. "I think that's sweet of you as well," she said. "I should probably go take a shower since I'm all sweaty, so do you want me to meet you somewhere afterwards?"

"Uhh, yeah. Yeah, sure." Josh said, smiling at the thought of her in the shower for a moment. "I should probably go shower too. But um, why don't I meet you in the mess hall for lunch?"

"Alright, that sounds great. I'll see you then," Gemma said, kissing Josh one more time before she left the training room to go shower.

Josh watched her walk off and then left the training room to go and shower himself. A stupid smile spread across his face the entire time he was in the shower. Gemma was on his mind, and he couldn't get her out of his head.

After she took a shower, Gemma got dressed and then headed to the mess hall for lunch. She was one of the first people there, so she went and got herself some food before sitting down at a table and waiting for everyone else to get there.

Josh got there not long after her and instantly sat down to next to her. "Hey beautiful," he said with a sweet smile on his face.

"Hey handsome," Gemma said, smiling at him as she took a bite out of her sandwich. "Why don't you go get some food? You must be starving after training for so long."

"I will in a minute, there's long line right now." Josh said, putting her arm around her and kissing her cheek. "So, how was training with Brittany earlier? It looked like you guys were working you tails off." He stated with a smile.

"It was great, actually. I learned a lot from her. We also had fun listening to you and Anna bicker while you were boxing," Gemma replied with a giggle.

"We like to talk trash to each other," Josh mentioned, chuckling as they sat down. "I heard from my mom that Sam is starting to walk on her own without and any help, that's great to hear." He said. His mother had been working in the hospital, doing physical therapy for the injured patients.

"Yeah, it is. She's been doing a lot better lately. Hopefully she'll be able to start training again soon. I miss having her around," Gemma said.

"Well, my mother said she's one of the strongest people she's ever worked with." Josh mentioned, smiling at her. "She said that Sam never complains about being pain, and she kinda reminds me of Anna in that way. Anna is never one to complain about her own well being because she doesn't want others to worry about her. That also kind of reminds me of you as well, sometimes you're very open, but other times you shake things off because you think it makes you a burden." He said, tucking her hair back. "I just hope you know that you're not a burden to me, or to anyone here."

Gemma nodded. "Yeah, I know that. Sometimes it's nice to hear people say that, though. I always try to be as helpful as I can because I would hate to just sit around and do nothing if I could be making a difference."

"I can tell you for sure that you are making a difference Gemma, I have no doubt in my mind." Josh said smiling at her and kissing her nose in a cute and gentle manner.

Gemma blushed a little bit and took another bite out of her sandwich. "You're making a difference too, Josh. You're a leader for everyone in battle, and I'm so proud of everything that you've accomplished," she said.

"Well, thanks." He said smiling at her. "I'd pick you to lead us in battle, you're a lot more a leader than you realize. And one day that's going to show, I know it." Josh said before kissing her gently. "I'm going to get some food now, I'll be right back." He stated before hopping up and heading over to the food line, Gemma smiling as she watched him.

While Josh was heading over to the lunch line, Anna and Brittany had just finished getting their food and headed for the table that Gemma was sitting at. "Hey, Gemma, mind if we sit here?" Anna asked politely.

"Yeah of course you can." Gemma said smiling and gesturing for them to sit down across from her. "How are you Anna? I got a chance to see you and Josh getting a little petty and competitive earlier in the boxing ring."

"I'm doing pretty well. Josh and I are gonna continue our boxing match tomorrow because neither one of us could get the upper hand today, much to my chagrin," Anna said with a chuckle.

"Well, you both are pretty tough." Gemma said.

"Exactly, I think it's good that you two provide some healthy competition for each other." Brittany said kissing her girlfriend's cheek before taking a bite of some green beans that were on her plate.

"I'm going to get him tomorrow. I'm sure of it. I think I've figured out his weaknesses after our match today, so I'll be able to use those against him tomorrow and get bragging rights," Anna said confidently.

"That should be interesting to watch." Gemma said with a chuckle before seeing Josh heading back over with his lunch.

"Hello you three," He said sitting down next to Gemma. "How are you Britt? I haven't talked to you much today?"

"I'm good, Josh, thanks for asking," Brittany said with a kind smile. "And how are you?"

Josh kissed the side of Gemma's head, making the girl blush slightly. "I'm pretty great to be honest, I'm gonna kick your girlfriends ass tomorrow in the ring." He said, teasing his little sister.

"Oh we'll see about that. I wouldn't be so sure of yourself," Anna told her older brother. "I've got you all figured out now. Tomorrow's match should be pretty interesting."

"Definitely, I look forward to it." Josh said smiling before taking a bite of his peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

"So, Gemma, how's Sam doing? Last I heard, she was starting to walk again on her own. That's great," Anna said with a kind smile.

"Yeah, she's strong. I'm so happy that she's recovering and that she's going to make a full recovery." Gemma stated. "It's a bit of a relief, really. I was scared she wasn't going to live but now she's on her feet again."

"That's awesome. She's really strong, so I'm sure that she'll be back in action soon," Anna replied.

"Yes, I'm sure she will be." Gemma said.

Brittany then leaned in close and whispered. "I have been hearing around that the weather is starting get warmer. Does anyone want to go for a walk outside tonight?"

"Why not? I think that would be fun. This winter has been pretty brutal, so it would be nice to get some fresh air now that the weather is getting nice," Josh said in reply.

"Definitely, I'm up for it." Gemma added, smiling at the idea. "We could all use the fresh air."

"I know I could breathe the fresh air, I feel like I may get cabin fever if I stay in here any longer." Anna said with a chuckle.

The other three laughed and nodded. "Being cooped up in here for so long isn't fun. I'll be glad when winter is officially over, that's for sure," Josh said with a chuckle.

"Same, ironically winter is my least favorite season." Brittany said, making the other three laugh. "I hate being cold, I like feeling the sun on my skin and not having to wear a jacket and gloves twenty-four/seven."

"It's funny that winter is your least favorite season, considering that your last name is Snow," Anna said, playfully nudging Brittany's shoulder.

"I know, that's why I said that it was ironic." Brittany answered with a laugh before sipping her water.

The four of them continued to talk as they ate their lunch together. After they finished their food, Anna went to go find her aunt. She hadn't talked to her very much since the funeral, and she just wanted to check up on her and make sure that she was doing alright.

Terry was currently talking to James and Joan about something in the office when Anna walked in. "Am I interrupting anything?" She asked as she opened the door and walked inside the room.

Terry shook her head. "No, I was just talking with your mom and dad about some plans for continuing the propaganda videos. Is there something that you wanted to talk about?" Terry asked her niece.

Anna just walked up and hugged her aunt. "I just wanted to check up and see how you were doing, as well as Veronica, Greg Jr. and Carter. I haven't gotten to spend much time with you guys lately."

Terry smiled at her niece. "Well, that's very nice of you, Anna. We're all doing fine. It's getting easier each day, but I still miss him a lot. We all do."

"I miss him too," Anna added. "I know I didn't know him as well as I would've liked to, but he was still close to my heart."

"He loved you and your brother so much. He didn't get to be in your lives for very long, but he was so proud of you both," Terry told her.

"That's good to hear, because I was constantly trying to impress him." Anna said with a chuckle. "I do hope that he was proud of me," she said.

"He was, Anna. He really was. You've become such a strong individual. We're all proud of you here," Terry said smiling.

"That's good to know," Anna said sighing happily.

"I really mean that when I say it, Anna. You've made us all proud. You and your brother practically sparked the rebellion by yourselves. We couldn't have done any of this without you." Terry said, hugging her niece.

"Thanks, that means a lot to me." Anna said before hugging her mom and dad before she asked. "Do you think it would be okay if Gemma, Josh, Brittany and I all head out tonight and get some fresh air?"

Terry thought about Anna's question for a moment, and then nodded. "Yes, that should be fine. The weather's just starting to get nice again. Don't stay out there for too long, though."

'We won't, we just wanted to see the stars. And get some fresh air." Anna said smiling at her aunt happily.

"Let me know how it is. Maybe we can see if we can get a big group of people to go stargazing sometime," Terry suggested.

"Will do, see you later." Anna said before leaving the room with a smile and a wave.

"You have a good kid with her, you know that?" Terry said to her sister and brother-in-law. "She and Josh both, they're very exceptional people."

Joan nodded, smiling back at Terry. "We got very lucky with the two of them. I'm so proud of the people that they've become. They're both so strong and intelligent. I only wish that we would have gotten to see them grow up," she said to her sister.

"Well they're still growing everyday, just in different ways." James said, putting his arm around Joan's shoulder and kissing her cheek.

"I know that, and I love watching them grow every day, but I just feel like we didn't get the chance to be there for them while they were younger, and that kinda makes me sad," Joan said softly.

"I know, I wish I could've seen that too," James said, holding her close. "Sometimes I think about what would've happened if this war never happened. Josh would be a working man, and Anna would've just graduated college." He added with a chuckle.

"Maybe, once all of this is over, that can happen. Anna and Josh can go to school for a while, and then they'll get jobs, and it'll be like none of this stuff with Heinrick ever happened," Joan said with a smile.

"That's the spirit." James said, kissing his wife's forehead. Terry smiled at the both of them and then they all continued watching the cameras, just so they could keep an eye on Josh, Gemma, Brittany and Anna when they went outside the base.

 **Mysterious events are about to take place, what will Anna, Britt, Josh and Gemma find when they head tonight? Will it just be a regular stargazing experience, or will their lives take yet another unexpected turn? Keep reading to find out.**

 **Until next time!**


	25. Chapter 24: Stargazing

Chapter 24: Stargazing

Brittany had just finished drying her hair and headed back to her room to get ready to go outside the base later with Anna, Josh and Gemma. She threw on some blue jeans and pulled a gray hoodie over her head, putting the hood on her head so it'd stay warm while they were outside. She then put on a jacket she had borrowed from Lucas, it was big on her but at least she'd be warm. After she put her shoes on she heard a knock on her door. "Come in," she said as she tied the laces on her converse.

Anna opened the door and walked inside of Brittany's room, smiling when she saw her girlfriend. "Hey," the brunette said, walking over to her and giving her a sweet peck on the lips. "Ready to go stargazing?" She asked.

"So ready," Brittany said with a smile. She then stood back and put her hands on her hips. "This jacket doesn't look too big right? It's Lucas' and he let me borrow it."

Anna shook her head. "Nope, it looks great on you. Then again, you look good in anything," Anna told her with a smile on her face.

"You flatter me," Brittany said blushing and looking down at the ground for a moment before she looked up to see Anna right in front of her with her hands on her waist. "You moved here pretty quickly."

"Is that a problem?" Anna said, leaning in and kissing Brittany's lips before she could answer her question.

"Mmmm," Brittany hummed, kissing her girlfriend back and wrapping her arms around Anna's neck. "Not at all," she answered with her lips still against Anna's.

"Good, I didn't think it would be," Anna said with a chuckle, leaning into the kiss and pulling Brittany closer to her.

Brittany smiled into the kiss and then pulled back after awhile of their lips moving in sync with each other. "Let's go, Josh and Gemma said to meet them at the main hangar around midnight and we don't want to keep them waiting." She said taking Anna's hand in her own. "Plus, we can do a lot more kissing outside anyways."

"You made multiple good points there, babe," Anna said, smiling and stealing one last quick kiss from Brittany before they began to walk down the hallway towards the main hangar.

Brittany giggled when Anna kissed her one last time before they left and headed towards Gemma and Josh. Once they made it there, they saw Josh and Gemma talking by the main doorway out of the base. "Hey guys," Anna said, smiling and waving at her brother and his girlfriend.

"Hey, Anna and Brittany. Are you guys excited to go do some stargazing?" Josh asked them.

"Very, let's get started!" Brittany said clapping her hands together in excitement. "I love stargazing!" She said once Josh opened the door. She took Anna's hand and they walked out, thanking Josh for holding the door as they walked through.

Josh smiled when Gemma walked up and he held out his arm for her to take. "Shall we?"

Gemma bit down on her lip a little and nodded, giggling a little as well. "Yes, we shall," she said, taking his arm as they followed Anna and Brittany out the door.

As soon as the fresh air hit his skin, a happy sigh escaped Josh's lips and her looked up at the sky, seeing millions of stars above him. "Wow, incredible isn't it?" He said.

"Yeah, that's one way to describe it," Gemma said, looking up at the sky and the millions of stars above them. "We should see if we can recognize any constellations. Sam and I used to look up at the sky and look for constellations. Sometimes we'd make up our own," Gemma said with a smile.

"Anna and I did that too when we were on the run all those years." Josh said, smiling to himself. "Our parents taught us how before the war; then whenever we found a safe place to rest and saw that the sky was clear, we'd try to guess the constellations in the sky." He added, looking down from the sky and over at Anna and Brittany, who were laying down and looking up at the sky. "It was just time when we didn't have to worry our lives, you know?" He murmured, smiling at his sister and Brittany before looking back up at the sky.

Gemma nodded, leaning her head on Josh's shoulder as she looked up at the sky. "Yeah, I totally get what you mean. Sometimes looking up there helps me calm down if I'm stressed out. The sky is just so beautiful at night. It kinda gives me hope that even though there are many things wrong with our world right now, that everything will be okay and work out in the end."

"And it will be okay, and maybe one day you and I can travel the world together." He said smiling at his girlfriend as she gazed up at the stars. "Without having to worry about looking over our shoulder for danger. Would that sound good to you?"

Gemma looked back at Josh, smiling softly. "Yeah, that sounds great. I hope that we're able to do that once the war is over. That would be really nice," she said, looking into his eyes.

"And it's be just you and me," Josh said, turning to face Gemma and linking their hands together. "You and me against the world" He said, smiling at their linked hands.

"You and me against the world," Gemma repeated, leaning in and kissing Josh's lips sweetly. She pulled away from the kiss, biting down on her lip and smiling.

"Hmmmm," Josh hummed, smiling and leaning his forehead against hers. He loved when she kissed him, and she loved it when she blushed and bit her lip afterwards. "I love it when you do that. I love it a lot." He murmured.

Gemma looked at him, this was the perfect moment for her to say it to Josh. She loved him, and there wasn't a better time than now. "Josh?"

Josh looked over at Gemma, smiling at her. "Yeah, babe?" He asked.

Gemma took a deep breath, closing her eyes. "Josh, I love you," she said softly, opening her eyes so that she could see his reaction.

A smile appeared on Josh's face when she opened her eyes, he looked at her as he had never looked at anyone before. She was perfect, in his eyes. In fact, he had been waiting for them to get out tonight and stargaze that he could tell her that he loved her. Josh brought Gemma's hands up to his lips and he kissed each of them. "You love me?" He said smiling.

"Yes, very much." Gemma said. When Josh just stood there for a moment and didn't answer, Gemma panicked. "Oh my god, I said it too soon. I'm so sorry, I just-"

She was cut off by Josh cupping her cheeks and kissing lips gently but passionately. When he finally pulled back he leaned his forehead to hers again. "I love you too, Gemma. I have been for awhile now. In fact, I was going to tell you tonight."

"Y-you were?" Gemma stuttered, surprised by Josh's reaction. After he had remained silent, she was sure that she had screwed up big time. "Okay, thank God. I was beginning to worry that I had said it too soon, and I would've hated if I had made you uncomfortable by saying it before you were ready to say it back."

"You're adorable when you go off on little rambles, you know that?" Josh said, smiling and cupping her cheeks once again, leaning in and kissing her gently. He then wrapped his arms around her waist and picked her up off the ground, twirling her around a couple of times with a smile on his face.

Gemma giggled as Josh spun her around, her arms around his neck as he did so. When he set her back down on the ground, she pulled him in for a sweet kiss. "I love you, Josh," she said once their lips parted, looking into his eyes. "I really love you."

"I really love you too, Gemma." Josh said, smiling at the girl standing in front of him. "I've never said that to anyone before besides Anna and my parents," he said with a chuckle. "I didn't sound weird or anything, did I?"

Gemma shook her head. "No, you didn't sound weird or awkward at all. It was very sweet and your timing was perfect," she replied, smiling at him.

"Well then, I'll say it again." Josh said smiling back at her. "I love you, Gemma Winters."

"And I love you too, Josh Kendrick. Thank you so much for being mine," Gemma replied, smiling at her boyfriend.

"Thank you too," Josh said smiling.

Anna looked back to see her brother kissing Gemma. "What do you think is going on over there?" She said sitting up and smiling at the exchange.

Brittany looked over and smiled when she saw the look of pure happiness on Gemma's face. "Well, this is a wild guess, but I think they might've confessed their love for each other."

"It's about damn time," Anna said with a chuckle before she looked over at her girlfriend. This made her smile. "I hope you know how much I love you," she mentioned.

"That I do know," Brittany said, looking from Josh and Gemma to her girlfriend. "And I hope you know that I love you so much too."

"Hmmm, you may have to remind me." Anna said in a reading tone, receiving a playful nudge from Brittany before Anna leaned over and connected their lips.

Brittany tugged at Anna's lip with her teeth, leaning into the kiss a little more. "There, was that a good enough reminder?" Brittany asked as their lips parted.

"Mmmhm." Anna hummed with a smile on her face, kind of wishing Brittany had continued to kiss her after that sexy lip bite. "That was a really good reminder," She muttered with a smirk at her girlfriend. "You may need to just do that more just for my enjoyment, I really like it when you do that."

"Well, I'd be happy to oblige then," Brittany said, smiling and kissing her girlfriend a second time. She lingered on Anna's lips for a little bit longer, running her fingers through her hair as she did so.

"You know, you're really, really good at kissing." Anna mentioned once their lips parted for the second time. "Like, really, really good." She said blushing a little bit. "You make it so hard for me not get too excited."

"Maybe I'm trying to make it hard for you to control yourself," Brittany murmured back, smirking at Anna and winking at her.

"If that's true, then you don't have to do a lot before you've got me wanting you." Anna whispered, smirking back at her girlfriend before she turned back up and looking at the stars. Brittany just had this way of making Anna stumble over her words or having her go weak in the knees, and that wink was one of the things Brittany did that Anna absolutely loved.

Brittany giggled at Anna's words and bit her lip in a cute way. "That's good to know. Now I have something to use to my advantage," the blonde said, smiling at her girlfriend.

"You are and forever will be my strength and weakness, Britt." Anna said smiling and shaking her head as she squeezed her girlfriends hand. She then pointed out one of the constellations to Brittany. "You see that constellation that sort looks like a crooked Big Dipper?" Brittany nodded. "That one is called 'Carina,' or 'The Keel.'" Anna said smiling as she showed off her knowledge of the stars to impress her girlfriend. "And do you see that one over there that has the three stars at the top, then two in the middle and then three again at the bottom? That one is 'Vela,' or the "The Sails.' Each sailboat has a keel to keep its balance on the water and a sails to help it move. Pretty cool huh?"

Brittany nodded, looking up at the sky and trying to spot the constellations that Anna was pointing out. "I can see the clusters of stars that you're pointing out. I just can't really see the shapes," Brittany said with a chuckle. "Do you have any advice that would help me see the constellations better, miss astronomer?"

"Use your imagination," Anna said smiling at her adorable girlfriend. "If you see some cluster of stars that forms some sort of shape to you, you're probably looking at a constellation." She said as she looked at the thousands of stars. "These particular constellations I've pointed out appear most in March, which makes sense because it's March right now. Each month has its own set of constellations because as each month goes by, the earth is at a different spot as it cycles around the sun."

Brittany smiled as she listened to Anna talk. She looked up at the sky once the brunette finished speaking, trying to make out the shapes in the sky. Suddenly, she spotted one. "Hey! I found one! Which one is that?" Brittany asked, pointing up towards the sky with her finger.

Anna looked towards where Brittany was pointing and she smiled. She saw basically an upside down version of the big dipper. "That is called 'Cancer.' Nice catch there babe." She said before Britt leaned in and kissed her on the cheek.

"It's fascinating to hear you talk about this, you really know your constellations." Brittany said smiling at her girlfriend. "It's actually pretty attractive, hearing you talk about it."

Anna blushed a little at Brittany's words. "It is?" She asked. "I don't know how you can think that me rambling on about a bunch of stars is attractive. I don't really talk about constellations with anyone except Josh because I always figured that people would think it was boring."

"You know, usually I would find it boring. But the way you describe everything is amazing." Brittany mentioned with a smile. "Your voice is just interesting to listen to."

"Well I'm glad that my voice makes constellations less boring for you," Anna said with a chuckle, leaning in and kissing Brittany's cheek sweetly.

"It truly does." Brittany giggled before looking back up at the sky.

"So, now that I've shared some of my astronomy wisdom with you, what do you think your favorite constellation is? Out of the twenty that I pointed out to you," Anna said, chuckling again.

"Well, I don't know." Brittany said, thinking to herself. "I think they're all beautiful, I just have to see the rest of them to be sure."

"Once we finish Heinrick once and for all, you and I should go travel the world and find all the different constellations. Then, once you've seen them all, you'll be able to pick your favorite," Anna said, smiling at Brittany.

"Sounds good to me," Brittany said smiling and leaning in to kiss her girlfriend. "I think that would be absolutely perfect."

Anna closed the distance between them, connecting their lips in a loving kiss. "Well that's good, because I think that it sounds perfect too."

After staying outside for about an hour, the two couples head back in for the night. Josh was walking Gemma back to her room and they were now standing in front of her door. He smiled at her and leaned into kiss her.

Gemma leaned in as well, smiling when their lips met. She pulled away to catch her breath a few moments later, biting down on her lip. "I had a really great time tonight," she said softly.

"So did I," Josh said smiling at her and chuckling a little. "It was kind of like, a first official date if you think about it."

"Yeah, I guess it was," Gemma said, smiling back at Josh. "Maybe we could go on a second official date sometime?" She asked.

"Definitely," Josh stated before looking at her door and then back at her. Gemma was perfect in his eyes. With her long brown hair and her big brown eyes, she was the most incredibly beautifully human he'd ever seen. He olive skin was as smooth as silk, and Josh found it hard to keep his eyes away from her for very long.

After a few moments, Gemma noticed that Josh was staring at something. She waved a hand in front of his face. "Earth to Josh? What are you looking at?" She said.

"I'm looking at you, Gemma." Josh mentioned, looking into the girls eyes. His heart beat fluttered a little bit as he gazed into her eyes. "I'm looking into the glorious eyes of the girl I love."

Gemma felt her face turn red as she blushed. "Th-thanks," she said shyly, looking away from Josh for a moment. "Nobody's ever said something like that to me before," she added in a quiet voice.

"Nobody's ever said that to me either," Josh said, making Gemma laugh a little. "I'm serious though," Josh added, lifting Gemma's chin up and looking into her eyes. "Your eyes, are the most beautiful eyes I've ever seen in my life."

"Really?" Gemma asked, looking up into Josh's eyes. "Do you really mean that?"

"Of course I mean that," Josh answered, offering a sweet smile Gemma's way. "I love you, Gemma. And you are the most beautiful girl I've ever seen."

Gemma smiled at this, leaning forward and kissing Josh lovingly. "I love you, Josh, and I don't know what I did to get so lucky to have you in my life."

"Believe me, after the life I've lead so far, I feel more than lucky to have you in my life." Josh said shrugging to himself. "I don't know what made you pick me out of all the good looking guys on this base, but I'm certainly glad you did pick me."

"I picked you for so many reasons, Josh. There's so many reasons that it would take hours for me to list them all. And for the record, there's no guy on this base who's better looking than you," Gemma told him with a smile.

"Well, I'm glad you think that." Josh said before Gemma wrapped her arms around her neck and he wrapped his arms around her waist. This embrace lasted awhile before Josh pulled back and looked at Gemma.

"I want you to stay with me tonight," Gemma whispered.

Josh nodded. "Yeah, I'd like that." He said smiling.

Gemma smiled back at him and opened the door to her room, pulling Josh inside and closing the door behind them. She smiled at him, walking over to her bed and sitting down. "Could we cuddle for a little bit?" She asked cutely.

"Yeah, I'd love that." Josh said taking his jacket off and sitting down next to her, letting her get situated on the bed before he lay back with her, wrapping one arm around her shoulder and the other around her waist.

Gemma smiled and laid her head on Josh's chest, closing her eyes and sighing with content. "This is really nice," she murmured.

"Yeah, it is." Josh said smiling and holding his girlfriend close, softly running his fingers through her long, brown hair.

Gemma hummed in approval, loving the feeling of Josh's fingers running through her hair. "You make me so happy, Josh. You know that, right? You make me really happy."

"You make me happier than I've ever been, Gemma. And that's a fact." Josh said smiling as he combed her hair gently with his strong fingers while his other hand stroked her side slowly.

"I'm glad that I make you happy. I really try to," Gemma said softly, looking up into Josh's eyes and smiling at him.

Josh sat up and pulled Gemma up with him, bringing her in for a gingerly placed kiss on the lips. "You make me more than happy, Gemma." He said, looking into her eyes once they pulled away. "You make me complete."

Gemma felt a few tears well up in her eyes when Josh said that. "What you just said was the cutest thing ever," she whispered, smiling widely at him before kissing him again.

Josh answered by cupping her cheeks and kissing her back with a smile on his lips. He pulled her onto his lap and wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling back from the kiss for just a moment just to catch his breath. "I wouldn't ever lie to you, ever. And I'm not lying now. You make me complete Gemma, there are no missing pieces when I'm with you."

"I feel the same way, Josh. Ever since I met you, I've been so much happier. It feels like there was a missing part of me, but then I met you. I don't know what I'd do without you in my life," Gemma said, placing her hands on Josh's shoulders.

The young man looked up into her eyes and tucked a few stray hairs away from her face so he could see her beautiful eyes, and her tempting lips. "I'm yours, Gemma." He whispered.

"And I'm yours, Josh. I'm not anyone else's. I'm yours," Gemma whispered back, running her fingers through his hair and gazing into his eyes. Josh smiled for a moment, groaning in approval of Gemma's fingers combing his hair gently. He then pulled her body close to his and pulled her into a deep kiss, running his hands up and down her back.

Gemma smiled when Josh began to run his hands up and down her back, cupping his face with her hands and deepening the kiss. She gently tugged at his bottom lip with her teeth, smiling when she felt him pull her even closer.

Josh moaned when Gemma tugged at his lip with her teeth, slipping his tongue into her mouth after sliding it across her bottom lip to ask for permission. It had been awhile since he's experienced anything like this at all, but it just felt right. Everything felt right when he was with Gemma, and he could feel his body filling with the want and need to be with her at that moment.

Josh wasn't the only one getting turned on at that moment. Gemma bit down on her lip to stop a moan from rising up in her throat. "You're really good at this," she mumbled against his lips as they continued to kiss.

"Thanks, babe." Josh murmured as his lips moved away from her lips. He trailed across her cheek, jawline and neck with sweet kisses, holding her as close as possible. "You're really amazing at it too," he mumbled against her warm and soft skin. His lips began sucking gently right where her neck and jawline met, creating a small hickey.

Gemma's breath hitched as Josh began to leave hickeys on her skin, and she couldn't help but moan softly. "That feels really good, Josh," she whispered, closing her eyes and biting down on her lip.

"Your skin is so smooth." Josh whispered and he kissed her chest along to the other side of her neck.

"Your lips are so soft," Gemma murmured, turning her head to one side to give Josh better access to her neck. Josh pulled her shirt to the side and lay sweet soft pecks along her collarbone softly.

Josh's breathing began to pick up as the kissing became way more intense and sensual. "Mmmm, I could do this forever."

"I wouldn't mind doing that at all," Gemma mumbled back with a soft smile on her face as Josh continued to kiss all over her neck. The young man smiled and ran his hands up and down her back underneath her shirt, coming in contact with her skin. He moved his lips back to hers and smiled when they began to kiss again.

"Just tell me if something makes you uncomfortable okay?" Josh whispered as they kissed. "I don't want to force you do something you don't feel like doing."

"You're not forcing me into anything, Josh. I want this as much as you do," Gemma replied, kissing him back passionately.

"Okay, I just wanted to be sure." Josh smiled and his nails softly scratched against Gemma's skin.

A small gasp came from Gemma's mouth as Josh's fingernails left small red marks in her skin. "Shit, that's good," she muttered, running her hands up and down his sides.

"You have a beautiful body, Gemma." Josh whispered, laying her down with her head towards the end of the bed, laying on top of her and kissing her neck roughly while hands pinned hers over her head. He moved his lips down to her chest, kissing her cleavage a little as he did so.

All Gemma could do was moan and push Josh's head down closer to her skin. "Please don't stop," she whispered, loving the feeling of his lips on her skin. Josh nodded and continued to kiss along her chest before kissing down her stomach over her shirt before pulling the belly of her shirt up with his teeth and kissing up her stomach.

"Hold on," Gemma said, moving away mfrom Josh and sitting up. She pulled her shirt over her head and tossed it onto the floor. "I figured that it would be easier for you if I didn't have my shirt on," she explained to him with a little giggle.

"You're probably right," Josh said smiling widely at her before he lay her back down and kissed along her upper body in soft kisses with the occasional tug at the skin.

Gemma closed her eyes, sighing with content as Josh's lips continued to travel over her skin, not leaving a single inch untouched. She pulled him up into a sweet kiss a few moments later, smiling as their lips met.

Josh smiled down at her and cupped her cheeks before leaning down and kissed her again for just a short moment. "Do you want me to take this off?" He asked, gesturing to his shirt.

Gemma nodded her head slowly, tugging at the hem of his shirt. "Yeah, I'd really really like that," she whispered back in a low voice. Josh sat up and stripped his shirt off, throwing it next to Gemma's on the floor.

His muscular form was fairly visible in the dark, and his abs were just visible enough. "Like what you see?" He asked smiling.

Even though it was dark, Gemma could still see the outline of Josh's abs, and it was hard for her not to drool. "Y-yeah," she stuttered, blushing a little bit.

"You're so cute when you stutter," Josh whispered before leaning back down and kissing her lips gently. He grabbed Gemma's hips and pulled her back onto his lap. "What do you want right now?" He asked, catching his breath after a kiss.

Gemma bit down on her lip, looking into Josh's eyes. "I think you know what I want," she murmured back, her voice barely above a whisper.

"Do you have protection?" Josh asked, looking back at her with just as much intensity as she was.

Gemma nodded. "Yeah, I have some. It's probably in that drawer over there," Gemma said, pointing over to the bedside table by Josh. Josh got up and went to the drawer, opening the top left shelf and finding a box of condoms.

The young man grabbed one and came back over to Gemma, leaning down and kissing her lips. "I want this, but only if you're sure about it."

"I'm sure about this, Josh. I want this," Gemma said, smiling back up at him and pulling him down for another kiss.

Josh reached behind to Gemma's back and unhooked her bra, letting it fall to the floor before he threw it to the ground. He then cupped her cheeks and kissed her while he let her take his off belt and jeans.

After pulling his jeans off, Gemma cupped Josh's face with her hands and pulled him down on top of her. Their lips connected in a rough kiss, and Gemma moaned into Josh's mouth as their lips moved in sync. This made the young, black haired man groan. Hearing Gemma moan for him was one of the sexiest things he'd ever heard.

"You're so gorgeous, babe." He whispered, hooking his thumbs on the belt loops of her jeans before pulling them down with ease.

"You're the most attractive guy I've ever seen," Gemma murmured back, taking one of Josh's hands in hers and linking their fingers. Her breath hitched as she felt his lips on her skin again, and she moaned softly.

"I want you to tell me exactly what you want right now," Josh whispered running his hands up and down Gemma's sides and kissing her neck gently. "Tell me, and I'll give it to you. I'll do everything you want me to do," he whispered in a husky tone.

Gemma shuddered as Josh whispered in her ear, and she felt herself get goosebumps. "I want you to kiss me all over," she whispered softly. "I want you to touch me. I want you to make love to me."

"Shit," Josh muttered. The way Gemma responded in that soft but desperate tone, it turned him on and he whimpered when he felt her hands run through this thick and slightly curly hair.

"Was that specific enough for you, babe? Are you going to be able give me everything I want?" Gemma asked him in a low voice.

"I think so babe," Josh whispered. He then kissed her lips gently one more time, moving his hands to her breasts and kissing down her body while he began to massage and knead them gently. Then he kissed down to where her underwear started, and then he licked up her abs ever so slightly, teasing a little.

"Oh my god," Gemma muttered under her breath, squirming underneath Josh as she felt herself getting turned on by his actions. She closed her eyes, gripping onto the sheets of the bed as his lips traveled down her body.

A smirk spread across Josh's face and he licked up the material of her underwear, causing the girl to squirm and moan. "Mmm, you're so wet for me, aren't you babe?" He said smiling up as her as he kissed up her inner thighs.

Gemma nodded her head weakly, feeling a moan rising up in her throat as Josh kissed and nipped at her skin. "Keep doing that," she muttered, pushing his head closer to her skin.

"Oh I plan on it babe," Josh whispered, licking up each of her inner thighs slowly and thoroughly. He then pulled her underwear down and kissed her wet folds softly before beginning to flick his tongue around.

Gemma opened her eyes when she felt where Josh's mouth was, and it took everything she had to keep herself quiet. "Oh my god, babe. How are you so good at this?" She asked, letting a soft moan fall from her lips.

A soft chuckle escaped Josh's lips before he sucked on each of her folds, running his tongue along her core as he did so. His strong hands continued to massaged Gemma's breasts as she became more of a squirming mess above him.

Gemma felt her walls begin to clench up with each stroke of Josh's tongue. She tugged at the ends of his hair, pushing his head impossibly closer to her core. "Fuck, I'm getting close," she moaned. This spurred her lover to push his tongue inside her and spread her legs wide open to give himself full access.

"Ah fuck, Gemma. You taste incredible." Josh mumbled against her core.

Josh's words were all that was needed to push Gemma over the edge, the girl no longer trying to keep quiet as she yelled out Josh's name while hitting her climax. "Josh! Fucking hell!" She moaned.

A huge smile was on Josh's face when he cleaned her up and kissed up her body. "That was so hot," he whispered. "But do you know what would be really hot right now?" He asked smirking. "If you could do the same to me."

Gemma smirked back at Josh, biting down on her lip in a sexy way. "Would that be really hot right now?" She asked him, still catching her breath.

"It would be," Josh said smirking and leaning down to kiss her softly but with need.

"Well if that's what you want, then I'd be happy to oblige," Gemma murmured against his lips, tugging on his bottom lip with her teeth.

Josh then flipped them over so she was on top of him and they made out for a little longer before her lips left his. "You're really beautiful," he said as he watched her.

Gemma blushed at Josh's words, a small smile appearing on her face. "You don't look too bad yourself," she replied, moving her lips to his jawline where she began to leave soft kisses.

"Mmmm, that feels nice." Josh whispered, leaning his head back against the pillows so she could have complete access.

"I'm going to do whatever I can to make sure that you feel good tonight, so if there's anything else you want, don't hesitate to let me know," Gemma whispered in his ear in a low voice.

Josh quickly nodded holding her waist as she continued to kiss along his body. His breathing began to pick up as the anticipation built inside of him.

Gemma trailed her lips along his jawline, moving down to his collarbone and then kissing down his chest. She could tell that he was getting excited, and this made her smirk. "I bet you can't wait for this, baby," she murmured, gently nipping at his skin with her teeth.

"Shit, I'm so ready for you babe." Josh said breathing heavily. The way Gemma's hands and lips maneuvered around his body turned him on. "You're so hot," he muttered, letting out a whimper when she kissed his muscular chest.

Gemma smirked at Josh's reaction, knowing that she was driving him crazy. "I promise that I won't tease you much longer, babe," she whispered to him, leaving another small hickey on his skin. A groan came from Josh's mouth as she moved closer and closer to the line of his boxers, and he ran his fingers through his hair as he tried to not get too excited too early.

"Please babe," He groaned as she started licking up his abs.

"Someone's being a little impatient," Gemma said with a little giggle, smiling as she felt Josh's fingers running through her hair. "Like I said, just wait a little bit longer and I'll give you what you want."

"I know, you're just really good at this." Josh moaned, closing his eyes and whimpering, in desperate need of more contact. He took deep breaths to keep himself calm, although watching her kiss along his abs made it hard for him to concentrate on keeping his cool.

Gemma left a few more kisses on his skin before she moved her lips back up to meet Josh's in a sweet kiss. After lingering for a few moments, she broke the kiss, slowly moving her hands down his body and scratching his skin softly with her fingernails. She looked up at him as she started to pull down his boxers, watching his face for a reaction.

A bright smile appeared on his face as he watched his girlfriend pull down his boxers. He kicked off his boxers once she had pulled them down to his lower legs and then he pulled her up into a kiss, cupping her cheeks. "I love you," he whispered.

"I love you too, Josh," Gemma mumbled back, pulling away from the kiss to catch her breath. She smiled at him, starting to trail her lips down his body one last time.

Josh moaned softly as Gemma's lips quickly moved down his body, and he put one hand behind his head as he watched her. 'Damn, she was beautiful,' he thought to himself.

Gemma left a few kisses on Josh's abs before looking back up at him, seeing that he was already looking at her. This made her smile softly. "What are you looking at, babe?" She asked.

"You," Josh said simply with a smile on his face. "I want you babe," he muttered, feeling his chest rise and drop as the anticipation grew.

Gemma smiled at Josh, taking one of his hands and squeezing it softly. "I know you do, and you won't have to wait any longer," she whispered to him in a husky voice, making eye contact with him before taking his tip into her mouth.

"Fuck," Josh muttered instantly, sighing with contents as she began to give him pleasure. "Fuck, Gemma that's good." He muttered, laying his head back on the pillow.

Gemma started to bob her head at a slow pace, then started to go a little faster when she felt Josh push her head down with his hand. She started sucking rougher as well, knowing that would make Josh feel even better than he already was. Josh put his head back up as he watched her, moaning softly and pulling the hair out of her face so he could see her.

"Ahhh, shit. That's amazing babe." He whispered, biting his lip for a moment to keep calm and take deep breaths.

Spurred on by his reaction, Gemma increased the pace, knowing that Josh was getting closer and closer with each minute that passed. She continued to bob her head, knowing that she was giving him great pleasure since he pushed her head down again. Josh knew he was close so he moaned loudly, saying Gemma's name multiple times. "Shit, I'm so close babe."

Hearing Josh say that only made Gemma more determined to help him reach his climax, so she began to deepthroat his dick, hoping that would be the thing that he needed to send him over the edge.

"Gemma, fuck! Just like that!" He moaned, holding her head as he hit his climax. His chest heaved as she finished him off and he ran his hands through his hair. After he had a moment to catch his breath, he pulled Gemma into a kiss and smiled at her. "Are you ready?" He asked.

Gemma leaned into the kiss, cupping Josh's face with her hands as she did so. She pulled away after a few moments and gazed into his eyes. "Yes, I'm ready. I'm so ready, baby," she murmured. A smile appeared across Josh's face as they looked at each other with eyes full of love.

The young man then lay Gemma down with her head against the pillows, their lips staying connected the entire time. Josh let out a few deep breaths before he grabbed the condom off of the bedside table.

Gemma smiled up at Josh, gazing into his eyes lovingly. There was nothing else that she wanted more in that moment. "I love you so much, Josh," she said to him, still looking into his eyes.

"I love you too," Josh said genuinely, kissing her lips and holding her close before pulling away and putting the condom on.

Gemma bit down on her lip, the anticipation and excitement growing with each second that passed. "I need you, Josh," she whispered softly, letting out a low moan.

"I know babe, I need you too." Josh answered honestly, kissing her lips when he climbed back on the bed and lay down. "Do you want to be on top to start?"

"I can be on top if you want me to," Gemma replied, smiling and looking over at Josh.

"Well then, come over here babe." Josh said smiling and laughing a little as he pulled her onto his lap.

Gemma giggled as Josh grabbed her waist and pulled her onto his lap. She cupped his face with her hands, leaning in and connecting their lips. "I'm ready when you are."

Josh took a deep breath, he hadn't done this in awhile so he was a bit nervous. He loved Gemma and wanted to make her feel amazing. After one more deep breath, he lined their bodies together and entered slowly, moaning instantly. "Shit," he whispered, kissing her lips as she began to ride him.

Gemma moaned into Josh's mouth as he entered her, kissing him roughly as she started to ride him. "Oh my god, this is good," she mumbled, tugging at Josh's bottom lip with her teeth and moaning again. Josh's hands went to her hips as she rode him expertly.

"Ahhh, mmm, babe." Josh moaned, leaning forward and putting his mouth on her chest, kissing it as she continued to ride him.

Gemma threw her head back as Josh began to kiss all over her chest, letting out a long moan as she did so. "Keep doing that, babe. You have no idea how good that feels," she said, running her fingers through his hair and tugging at the ends of it.

"Shit," Josh moaned, loving how Gemma pulled at his hair as she bounced on him. He continued doing so, kissing her chest and her boobs constantly while she rode him. "You feel so good on me babe, fuck!" He moaned as he thrusted into her.

Gemma continued to bounce on him, creating friction between their bodies that was enjoyable for the both of them. "You feel so good in me," she whispered back, closing her eyes as another moan rose up into her throat.

Everything about this felt so right to Josh, and he moaned as she went a little harder. His hands ran up and down her back and he kissed her lips. They paused their motions for a second and Josh flipped them over, climbing on top of her. He then lined himself up with her again and entered her, thrusting fast for her pleasure. A moan rose up in his throat as Gemma instantly ran her nails down his back.

Gemma's nails dug into Josh's skin, leaving red scratch marks as he began thrusting once more. "Keep doing that, Josh! Faster!" She cried out, throwing her head back onto the pillows of the bed as Josh did as she asked, increasing the pace of his thrusts.

Josh's lips were attached her neck as he thrusted, sucking a hickey into the skin behind her ear while his thrusts got faster and harder. "You're so fucking hot, Gemma." He groaned.

"So are you," Gemma moaned into Josh's ear, running her hands up and down his back as he kissed her neck and left hickeys in her skin. "This is so good, babe. Please don't stop," she whispered.

"Mmmm, I won't babe. That's the last thing I'll do, fuck!" Josh moaned as he thrusted uneven thrusts, going one or more at a time and then stopping, and then doing that again.

With each thrust, Gemma got closer and closer to her second climax. Her walls began to clench up, and she was now moaning pretty frequently. "Shit, Josh! Faster!"

"Oh Gemma! Ahhh fuck!" Josh groaned as he too got closer to his orgasm. "I'm close babe!" He moaned as he thrusted faster like Gemma wanted, going so fast and deep that he hit her g spot with each thrust.

"Fuck, keep going Josh! I'm almost there!" Gemma moaned, her nails digging deeper into Josh's back each time he thrusted into her. Josh groaned as Gemma's nails dug into his back, loving the feeling.

"Fuck, you're so damn hot babe." Josh moaned as he too was about to reach his high. "Do it with me babe, scream my name." He whispered against her lips.

Moments later, Gemma hit her high, yelling Josh's name as she did so. "Oh my god! Josh!" She cried out, smashing her lips against his to muffle her moans as she came down from her high.

"Ahhh, fuck! Gemma!" Josh groaned as he too hit his climax. He thrusted throughout it to keep Gemma coming down from her high, moaning as he did so. His body was covered in sweat as he came down from his high. He pulled out and took the condom off, throwing it away. He then lay down beside her. "Wow," he said as he continued to catch his breath.

"Wow indeed," Gemma replied with a giggle. "That was incredible, Josh. Thank you so much," she added, turning her head and gazing at him with a smile on her face.

Josh looked over at her and wiped his forehead to get the sweat off. "Thank you, you were amazing."

Gemma moved closer to him, leaning their foreheads together and closing her eyes. "I love you, Josh. I love you so much," she murmured, smiling softly.

"I love you too, Gemma. More than you'll ever know." Josh whispered, wrapping his arms around her and holding her close to his body.

Gemma sighed with content as Josh held her. She had never been happier than she was in that moment with Josh by her side. Her breathing evened out, her chest rising and falling as she slowly fell asleep. Josh smiled as he watched Gemma fall asleep in his arms.

His heart had never been happier than it was whenever he was around Gemma, and his eyes never felt so blessed to look upon anything before. He had found a very special person, and he wasn't planning on ever letting her go. Josh leaned down and kissed her forehead before turning off the lamp, closed his eyes, and fell asleep with his girlfriend's head resting on his shoulder.

 **I don't know about you but I think Gemma and Josh just got down to business. I know not a lot of plot happened in this chapter but it was or two of our couples to have some growth in the seriousness of their relationship.**

 **Until Next Time!**


	26. Chapter 25: Moving Forward

Chapter 25: Moving Forward

The next morning, Gemma woke up when the sunlight coming in from the window hit her face. She sat up and rubbed her eyes, yawning as well. She then looked over and saw Josh laying beside her, and a smile spread across her face as she remembered the events from last night. Watching him lay there peacefully, his chest rising up and down as he continued to sleep with a smile on his face.

Everything about last night was perfect to him, and he was actually dreaming of Gemma. It wasn't sexual, but it was of her laying in his arms with her chin resting on his chest while they gazed into each others eyes. It was simple, but it was perfect.

Gemma leaned over, kissing Josh's cheek softly. She laid back down beside him, smiling and closing her eyes as she rested her head on his chest. She had never thought she would be so lucky to find someone like him, and now that she had him, she never planned on letting him go.

Josh felt the weight of the bed change a little, and his eyes suddenly began to flutter open. A small smile appeared on his face as he saw Gemma laying there. He took a deep breath and ran his fingers through her hair. "Hey, good morning beautiful." He mumbled tiredly.

"Good morning to you too," Gemma whispered back, smiling and pecking Josh's lips. "I had a really great time last night, thank you so much for that," she murmured against his lips.

"Last night was, incredible." Josh mumbled, kissing Gemma's lips softly and lovingly. "That was the best I've ever had." He whispered, making Gemma blush a little once they pulled back and gazed at each other.

Gemma leaned in and kissed Josh again, lingering on his lips for a bit longer this time. "We'll definitely have to do that again sometime," she said once their lips parted, throwing in a wink at the end.

"Oh I know we'll be doing that again, multiple times." Josh whispered, being playful and winking back at her and wrapping his arm around her. He kissed her lips and gently flipped them so she was on her back and he was on his side. Josh ran his hands up and down her legs while his lips stayed connected to Gemma's.

Gemma sighed happily as their lips molded together perfectly. "You're a really good kisser," she mumbled against his lips, running her fingers through his hair.

Josh groaned a little as Gemma ran her hands through his hair. "Thank you, you're an amazing kisser as well." He whispered before reconnecting his lips with hers.

After a few more moments, Gemma pulled away so she could catch her breath. She gazed into Josh's eyes and smiled. "I really love you, you know that right?"

"I do know that, and I hope you know I really, really love you too." Josh mentioned, tucking her hair back and bringing up the palm of her hand to kiss it.

Gemma smiled and blushed a little bit at the gesture. She sat up in bed, brushing some of her hair out of her face. "We should probably get up and head to breakfast soon."

"Not yet, babe." Josh mentioned, sitting up and wrapping his arms around her waist. "It's barely 7 a.m. let's have a little longer." He murmured, laying a sweet trail of kisses along the back of her shoulder.

Gemma giggled as Josh's strong arms wrapped around her waist and pulled her back under the covers. "Well, if you insist," she said, smiling as his lips trailed over her skin.

Meanwhile in the training room, Anna and Brittany were training. Anna was wearing the boxing pad gloves while Brittany threw some punches and dodged Anna's advances. "Josh and Gemma are usually here by now, where do you think they are?" Anna asked.

Brittany shrugged her shoulders, throwing a few punches and then dodging some of Anna's counterattacks. "They're probably still sleeping, or maybe they're at breakfast."

Anna shrugged and then let Britt throw some more punches. "It was nice to get out into the fresh air last night." She mentioned.

"Yeah, it really was. I liked getting to do some stargazing with you," Brittany replied with a smile.

"Maybe I'll take you out again tonight then, just the two of us." Anna mentioned, taking a couple more of Britt's punches before they decided to take a water break.

"Yeah, that would be great. I'd really like that," Britt said, taking a sip of her water bottle and smiling over at Anna. The brunette smiled at this and then kissed the blonde girl's cheek.

"You're amazing," Anna whispered, walking up behind her girlfriend and wrapping her arms around her waist from behind. "And I'm not just saying you're an amazing girlfriend. You're an amazing person, Britt. I want to spend the rest of my life with you, forever." She whispered softly, planting a couple kisses on Brittany's jawline before resting her sweaty face in the crook of Britt's neck. "I'm all in baby, for life."

Brittany paused, pulling away from Anna. She looked into the brunette's eyes, feeling tears of joy well up in her own. "You really mean that?" She asked. "Do you really mean that?"

Anna cupped Britt's cheeks and leaned in to kiss her lips gently. She lingered there for a moment, just long enough for her to convince Britt that she meant it. "Yes, I mean that. I've found the one and only person that I want to spend my life with. I've found everything I want in you. So yeah, I mean that. I'm all in for life, Britt."

The tears in her eyes finally began to fall, and Brittany smiled, leaning in and kissing Anna back. "Thank you, Anna. You have no idea how much that means to me," she said. "And I want you to know that I'm all in for life too."

"I'd hope so, otherwise this would've been really awkward." Anna said with a small chuckle before leaning in and kissing her girlfriend. "I know you are, and I love you."

"I love you too," Brittany whispered back, smiling and running her fingers through the brunette's hair as they kissed again. Anna wiped Britt's tears with her thumb as they kissed.

When pulled back a minute later, she smiled. Brittany was hers forever and nothing was going to change that. "Alright, let's get back to work before someone catches us making out in the training room."

"Yeah, that would be embarrassing," Brittany said with a chuckle, moving away from Anna and grabbing her water bottle to take another sip from it.

"I'm gonna try and climb up the rope and hit the bell." Anna said. "I still haven't managed to do it yet, but I've been working on my upper body strength for awhile so I hope to get it soon." She added while taping her hands so they didn't get rope burn.

"I believe in you, babe. You've been working really hard and I know that you can hit the bell," Brittany said to encourage her.

Once they walked over to the rope, Anna looked up and saw the bell. It hung from the ceiling at a height of thirty-five feet in the air. Anna took a deep breath and then turned to Britt. "A kiss for good luck?"

"Of course," Brittany replied, walking over and giving Anna a quick peck on the lips. "I believe in you, babe. You can do this."

There was a foam pit underneath in case someone fell while attempting to climb it, but Anna didn't plan on falling today. She planned to make it to the top, and then got down the zipline that took you to the foam pit. Anna took a few deep breaths and then began to climb, moving swiftly but not too fast so she didn't get too tired too quickly.

Brittany watched as Anna started to climb up the wall, biting down on her lip. Occasionally her girlfriend would miss a foothold or a handhold causing the blonde to let out a little gasp, even though she knew that there was a foam pit that would keep Anna safe from injury.

"The gasping, as cute as it is, isn't helping babe." Anna said with a chuckle as she continued to climb. She was close to twenty feet in the air as she continued to climb up the rope, her arms aching and her breath shaky. But she wasn't going to let herself fall. No, she was going to make it up this hanging rope and reaching the platform to ring the bell if it was the last thing she did that day.

Her hands were a bit sweaty and Anna slipped down a couple feet, this time cursing to herself. "Come on, you can fucking do this." She told herself as she began climbing again, this time moving with better pace.

Brittany stayed silent as she watched Anna begin climbing once again, not wanting to do anything that might mess her girlfriend up. "Come on, babe. You can do this. Climb up one foothold and handhold at a time," the blonde murmured.

Anna continued to pursue the platform and the bell, now moving swiftly and with ease. She couldn't even feel the sweat dripping from her chin or the aching of her arms. She was going to do this, and nothing was going to stop her.

A smile spread across Brittany's face as she watched Anna easily climb the rest of the wall and pull herself onto the platform on the top, walking towards the bell and ringing it. Brittany clapped her hands and cheered for her. "Good job, babe!" She cheered.

"Wooo," Anna said, taking a few deep breaths. "Finally, it's about damn time I made it up here." She said laughing a little.

"Yeah, I guess it is," Brittany replied with a chuckle, smiling and looking up at Anna up on the platform. Anna then grabbed the zipline and zipped down into the foam pit. She crawled out and got up, walking to Brittany and hugging her.

"I wouldn't have been able to do it without you pushing me. Thank you," she said, kissing Brittany neck right under her ear before pulling away from the hug.

Brittany smiled, her arms around Anna's neck as they embraced. "I mean, I did almost mess you up by gasping," the blonde pointed out with a giggle.

"Well, just you saying that I could do it before I even started was enough to help me through." Anna said smiling as she pulled back. "Thank you so much," she stated.

"I promise you that I'll always be by your side to support you when you need it," Brittany replied, smiling back at her girlfriend.

"And I'll do the same for you." Anna answered.

An announcement came over the intercom, and Terry's voice spoke up. "A mandatory meeting is being held in the main hangar in an hour. Repeat, a mandatory meeting is being held in the main hangar in an hour. Everyone is expected to attend." The intercom them went dead.

After the announcement, Brittany looked over at Anna with a confused look on her face. "What do you think that's about?" She asked.

Anna shrugged her shoulders with a confused look on her face as well. "I'm not sure, but let's finish the workout and then shower so we can get there in time." She stated before wiping the sweat off of her face and taking the tape off of her hands.

Brittany nodded, taping up her hands and walking over to the nearest punching bag. She got some good punches in before she and Anna left the training room to shower and meet the rest of the group in the main hangar.

After Anna's shower she dried her hair and put on a flannel and some jeans, combing her now dry hair so she could braid it. She then met up with Brittany and then they headed to the main hangar, taking a couple seats next to each other once they got there.

A few minutes later, Josh and Gemma got to the hangar, sitting down with Anna and Brittany. "Do you have any idea what this meeting is about?" Josh asked his sister.

"No idea, but we're about to find out." Anna stated, waving at Skylar, Dale, Ester, Meleike, and Sam to come and sit with them as well as Terry's kids Veronica, Carter and Greg Jr.

They all continued to talk for a while until Terry arrived, walking to the front of the room. Everyone stopped talking, watching and waiting for Terry to make her announcement.

"Thank you all for coming." Terry said. "An hour ago when I made the announcement to meet here, we had just received intelligence that Heinrick and many of his soldiers have gone overseas to deal with some of Nepal's leaders about a possible upcoming trade. This leaves his main base in the Capitol city vulnerable, and we are putting together a big team of soldiers to go take out the base. I've assigned the following to be on the traveling team." She stated before clearing her throat and reading names off of a piece of paper. "Veronica, Carter, and Greg Cooper. Anna and Josh Kendrick, Brittany and Lucas Snow, Skylar Astin, Anna Ragsdale Camp, Gemma and Samantha Winters, Jason Lodgings, Jared Castro, Melieke Summers, Ester Dean, Shaquille Lammers, Joan and James Kendrick, Ivy Cannon, Alyssa and William Jacobson."

She continued to read off at least fifty more names before ending her speech and telling everyone who's name was called to get ready.

After she finished speaking, everyone who's name had been called went to the front of the hangar for further instruction. "You all should go to your rooms and pack a bag to bring with you. We will supply you with weapons, but you can bring your own if you wish. Are there any questions?" Terry asked them.

"How long is this suspected to take?" A voice called from the back.

"It depends. It could be a couple days, a couple weeks, maybe even a month or so." Terry stated. "It all hangs on how long it takes us to get past Heinrick's leftover army and into the base. Our mission is to destroy his most valuable resource, if we destroy the main base, his connections with other countries who are his suppliers will be temporarily lost. This will allow us to weaken him and his Healers while giving the Rebellion a chance to regroup and take him down for good. I've picked my greatest warriors for this mission, those of you who are here shown that you are willing to give your life for our freedom. Some of you will die, but you will die a hero, you will die a legend and as a true spirit of this revolution against Heinrick Francis and his Freedom Healers."

There was some murmuring among the members of the group before Terry told them that they would be leaving the base as soon as possible, so they all went to their respective rooms to pack up their belongings. "I can't believe this could be the mission that turns the tide of the war. It's crazy to think of how far the rebellion has come," Anna said to her brother as they walked back to their rooms.

"Yeah, it really is." Josh said as they made their way down the halls. "She brought at least seventy people on this mission. That means it's a big deal." He mentioned. "I can only hope that the number of lost lives by the time we get back is very, very low."

"I hope that there aren't any lives lost at all, but knowing how well-trained Heinrick's soldiers are, that's very unlikely," Anna said in a sad voice. "But I have a feeling that we'll come on top in this battle. I can't really explain it. I just have a feeling."

"Even if Heinrick took most of his army with him we're still going to be outnumbered." Josh added, running his hand through this black hair. "But I have a feeling as well that we can do this."

Anna nodded at Josh's words, stopping outside of the door to her room. "I'll see you in a little bit. Make sure you bring everything you need," she reminded him, smiling at her older brother.

"I will, I have a feeling we'll win this. But I also have feeling we are going to be away from base for awhile." Josh said with a chuckle before letting Anna go inside her room.

Meanwhile Skylar was changing into his clothes for the trip, making sure he brought everything he needed. New clothes, ammo and weapons, snacks along the way, and extra pairs of shoes and socks just in case.

A few minutes later there was a knock at his door, and Dale walked in with her bag. "How's the packing coming along?" She asked, walking over and sitting down on his bed.

"I'm almost finished." Skylar said, smiling when Dale walked in the door. "I'm guessing that you finished pretty quickly considering how efficient you are at packing bags."

Dale chuckled at Skylar's words and nodded. "Yeah, I packed pretty quickly I guess. I just know that they want us to leave as soon as possible, so I figured that I should try to be pretty quick with my packing," the blonde said.

"Well, I'm almost done so it shouldn't be much longer." Skylar said zipping up his hoodie jacket before turning to Dale and taking her hand. "Are you ready?"

Dale nodded and smiled, holding her hand out for Skylar to take. Once he took her hand, they walked out of his room and down the hallway towards the hangar. "I'm kinda excited for this mission. It's going to be hard, but this is the best chance we've gotten yet to have a real impact on the Healers."

"I know, I'm excited too." Skylar said, leaning over and kissing her cheek. "You and I are going to be a dynamic duo on this mission." He said sweetly. "I can feel it."

Dale blushed at Skylar's words. "Aren't we always the dynamic duo?" She said with a cute giggle.

"Yes, but it's going to come into play and be showcased more than ever." Skylar joked before kissing her cheek as they made their way into the main hangar.

They were some of the first people to get to the hangar, as they had packed pretty quickly. Ester and Meleike were already there as well, along with Terry, Veronica, Carter, and Greg Jr.

"Where's our first camping site mom?" Veronica asked as Skylar and Dale got close and heard their conversation.

"It's going to be a long journey there." Terry spoke, slinging a bag over her shoulder. "The first camp is about one hundred miles from here in cars, and we can only go small amounts of distance a day so our movement isn't detected."

"So how long do you think it will take to get there?" Carter asked his mother.

"Depending on how much we travel each day, it could be anywhere from a few days to a week," Terry told her son. "We want to get to the base as fast as possible, but we also want to go undetected in doing so."

Once everyone was there, they all loaded into different cars. Brittany, Anna, Skylar, Dale, Lucas, Sam and Jared went in one together. In another there was Josh, Gemma, Meleike, Ester, Jason, James, Joan, and Terry.

Once everyone was divided into their groups and they all got in their cars, they hit the road. Anna looked out the window, watching the surroundings fly by as they drove down a dirt road. Brittany was sitting next to her, with Skylar, Dale, Sam, Lucas and Jared sitting in the seats behind them.

"You okay babe?" Britt asked as she watched Anna look out the windows, taking her hand and squeezing it gently.

"Yeah, I'm good. How are you?" Anna asked, turning her head towards Brittany.

"I'm alright, just hoping this turns out for the better." Brittany said smiling and squeezing Anna's hand again.

"Me too," Anna said, smiling back at Brittany. "This is going to be a long mission, but it's going to be worth it if we're successful."

Britt leaned in and gave her a sweet peck on the lips before she lay her head on Anna's shoulder.

Sam saw Britt and Anna being all coupley together and she sighed. She really liked Anna, but she knew the girl was tied down and was serious with Brittany. All she really wanted was to have someone, like Anna and Britt had each other, like her sister and Josh had.

Jared, who had been silent for the first few minutes of the drive, looked over at Sam and saw the look of sadness on her face. "Hey, Sam. Is something wrong?" He asked her.

"It's nothing important really," Sam said shaking her head. "I don't really feel like talking about it."

Jared nodded with understanding. "Well if you do want to talk about it, I'll listen," he told her before looking back out of the window.

"Thanks," Sam said smiling at him. "Jason told me that you have a wife and kids back home and that you guys had a good life. What did Heinrick do to get you to work for him?"

Jared hesitated to answer, looking down for a moment. "He, uh, he threatened to take my family away if I didn't work for him. When I resisted, he took my kids from me. After that, I knew I had to work for him. Surprisingly, he let my kids go without harming them, but he also told me that if I ever tried to leave the Healers, he would take them again and he wouldn't be so generous. That's why I stayed with the Healers for so long."

"If you knew he would hurt them, why did you leave when we liberated the prison?" Sam asked, fixing her hoodie so the strings were even.

"I don't know. I saw a chance to leave and I took it, I guess. I figured that he would be more focused on the prisoners escaping than if I got out. I just hope that he's preoccupied with the incoming shipment and hasn't gone after my family," Jared replied in a quiet voice.

"Well, when we destroy his main base, maybe we can find out if your family is still safe." Sam stated, leaning her head back against the headrest. "One thing Heinrick is OCD about is keeping records of the people his men have captured or killed. So hopefully, we'll find out that they're safe."

"I don't know what I'll do if I find out that they're not safe," Jared said, running his fingers through his hair. "I just hope that this will all be over soon so that I'll be able to go back to them."

"We'll get your family safe and with you, I promise you that. Your family and Jason's. I'll help you guys." Sam said, holding her hand out to shake, to say that they had a deal.

Jared smiled at her and shook her hand firmly. "Well then, it seems like we have ourselves a deal."

In one of the other vans, Josh and Gemma were talking with his parents. "So Gemma, how come your parents didn't come on the trip?" Joan asked curiously

"They're some of the ITs at the base. They'll be leading the mission from back home." Gemma said smiling.

"Wow, that's pretty cool," James said to Gemma with a smile. "What exactly are they going to be doing at the base?"

"Giving us the weak spots in the base, they're our secret eyes. Giving us information as we go." Gemma stated. "My mom graduated from Stanford in Computer Science and my father went to Oxford. They both studied the same thing, and met at a conference, from then on they were together. They're some of the strongest people I know."

"Well, having some extra pairs of eyes should be very helpful on the mission," Joan replied with a smile. "If this mission succeeds, a big part of our success will be owed to them."

"So, son." James said, and Josh looked over his way.

"Yes, dad?" Josh asked, smiling at his father.

"When did this happen?" James asked, gesturing to Josh and Gemma. "Even though you haven't told us anything, we have eyes. You two spend a lot of time together. I can't help but wonder if there's something going on between you two."

Josh blushed a little and scratched the back of his neck. "Well, we're kinda in a relationship now," he told his father in a quiet voice. "On the night that we left to turn ourselves in to the Healers, she kissed me, and we've hit it off pretty well since."

"I kissed you for good luck, I didn't think you were going to actually kiss me back." Gemma added with a chuckle. "But when we rescued everyone from the prison, we started hanging out more. Then eventually when we were boxing this one day, I told him how I felt, and that I wanted to be with him." She said, smiling down at the floor of the car.

"I'll never forget the first time I saw you," Josh said, bringing her hand up to his lips and pressing a gentle kiss on it. "Your sister had rescued me from Chicago and we were going to back to take out the base and the camp." He turned to his parent with a smile. "I was walking with Anna into the main hangar and my breath caught in my throat when I saw Gemma for the first time. I'll never forget the butterflies that were going on inside my stomach."

Joan and James looked at each other and smiled as they listened to Josh talk about Gemma. "I remember getting a similar feeling when I saw your mother for the first time," James said to his son, making Joan blush. "I'll never forget the feeling that I got when I first saw her. It was like everything else in the world just disappeared."

"That's exactly how I felt when I saw Gemma," Josh stated. He looked over at his girlfriend and leaned their foreheads together. "I can't imagine a life without her in my life." He said still talking to his parents while he gazed at their connected hands.

"And I can't imagine a life without you either," Gemma replied, smiling and looking down at their hands as well. "You've made me happier than anyone else ever has, Josh, and I'm so thankful for that."

Joan felt her heart melt as she watched the two young lovers interact. Both of her children had found people who love them for them, and they were both happy. Which was all Joan had ever wanted for her children. That, and for them to be safe.

"I'm happy for you son," James said, reaching back and patting Josh's shoulder.

"Thanks, dad." Josh answered with a bright smile.

"I'm happy for you too," Joan said to Josh, smiling widely as well. "I've never seen you this happy before, and I'm so glad that you've found someone who can make you this happy."

"As soon as Anna was with Brittany, I wondered when that was going to happen for me." Josh mentioned with a smile on his face and a happy chuckle. "I didn't realize I'd find it so soon."

"Well, I'm sure that it feels great now that you've found your person," James replied, patting Josh on the back.

"My person," Josh said, smiling at the thought. "Yeah, I have found my person."

About and an hour and a half later, when night was beginning to fall, they reached their destination for the night and set up tents. Anna shared one with Britt, Josh shared one with Skylar, Dale shared one with Sam, and Gemma shared one with Ester while Meleike shared on with Jared and Jason.

Gemma set up her sleeping bag before helping Ester with hers. Meanwhile, Anna and Brittany had already set up their sleeping bags and were laying next to each other as they tried to fall asleep. "When I was a kid, my parents told me that the best way to fall asleep was by counting sheep. That's never worked for me though," Anna murmured with a chuckle.

"It'll be hard to fall asleep here even if you do try to count sheep, our sleeping pad is rocks under the tent." Brittany said smiling as she looked up at the ceiling of their small tent. "Counting sheep never worked for me either. My mother would used to sing me a lullaby."

"Really? What songs would she sing?" Anna asked her girlfriend. "If it would help, I could sing a song for you if you'd like."

"I've never heard you sing, but I'd like to." Brittany said smiling. "But only if your crawl in here with me and help keep me warm." She added biting her bottom lip. Once Anna and come into her sleeping bag, Brittany began talking again. "My mom used to sing songs by this group called The Carpenters. And I can always remember how lovely her voice was, it was so soothing and it always helped me sleep."

Anna smiled while she listened to Brittany talk about her mother. "What was the song called?" She asked. "I think I've heard of The Carpenters before, but I'm not sure," she added.

"It wasn't just one song, it was multiple. But apparently they were big in the 1970's when my parents were in college." Brittany said smiling to herself as she recalled the memory of her mother singing to her. "You don't have to sing one of their songs if you don't know them, but I'd still love to hear you sing."

"Are there any other songs that you'd like to hear me sing?" Anna asked. "Or maybe, you could teach me some songs by The Carpenters and sing them for me so that I'll know for future reference."

"No, no, no. I don't sing." Brittany said chuckling. "I don't sing. Just, sing me something you know."

"Wait, what do you mean you don't sing?" Anna asked, raising an eyebrow at Brittany. "I hear you humming tunes to yourself all the time. There's no way that you don't sing sometimes."

"I hum, I don't sing. There's a difference between the two." Britt mentioned, shaking her head with a chuckle. "Now, stop deflecting the question. You said you would sing for me."

"I am going to keep deflecting the question for as long as I have to if it means getting you to sing," Anna replied with a determined voice, crossing her arms playfully.

"You said you'd sing to me first." Brittany said crossing her arms at Anna as well, trying to keep a straight face. "If you sing to me, then maybe, just maybe I'll consider singing to you."

Anna paused, thinking about Brittany's offer for a few moments. "Fine, but you have to promise me that you'll consider singing for me, not just maybe considering it," the brunette finally replied.

"Fine," Brittany said with a playfully heavy sigh. "I will consider singing for you if you sing for me." She said, holding out her pinky for a pinky-promise.

"Alright, it's a deal," Anna said, linking her pinky finger with Brittany's to signify their promise. "Now you have to give me a couple minutes to think of a song to sing."

The young blonde girl waited patiently as her girlfriend lay there thinking of a song, smiling at Anna's thinking face. Whenever something was on her mind, Britt loved that Anna would scrunch her eyebrows a little and bite her lip. And Brittany found this absolutely adorable, and hot at the same time.

Anna ran her fingers through her hair as she thought of a song to sing. She closed her eyes, thinking for a few more moments before one finally popped into her head. "Alright, I think I've got the song that I'm gonna sing," she told Brittany.

Brittany had a wide smile spread across her face, biting her lip with excitement. "Oooo, and what is this song that you're about to sing?" She asked ever so curiously.

"Well, I'm almost certain that you've never heard of it before. It's called 'Big Black Car' and it's by a guy named Gregory Alan Isakov," Anna told her, smiling at how cute her girlfriend was being at the moment.

"Okay, sing it for me." Brittany said smiling as she awaited Anna's lips to open and start singing.

Anna took a deep breath, humming the tune of the song for a few moments before she started to sing.

"You were a phonograph, I was a kid

I sat with my ear close, just listening

I was there when the rain tapped her way down your face

You were a miracle, I was just holding your space."

Britt's ears perked up and her heart began to melt as she listened to Anna sing. It was like hearing a thousand angels mixed together to create and melodic, unforgettably beautiful sound. Her heart beat began to speed up as she listened, never wanting to her silence ever again.

"Well time has a way of throwing it all in your face

The past, she is haunted, the future is laced

Heartbreak, you know, drives a big black car

I swear I was in the backseat just minding my own.

And through the glass, the corn crows come like rain

They won't stay, they won't stay for too long now

This could be all that we know

Of love and all."

Anna paused, taking a few breaths and smiling at Brittany before she went into the second verse of the song. The song was so beautiful and Anna's voice was intoxicating, smooth, and wonderful. Brittany's eyes flickered back and forth between Anna's eyes and her lips as Anna continued to sing.

"Well, you were a dancer, I was a rag

The song in my head, well, was all that I had

Hope was a letter I never could send

Love was a country we couldn't defend.

And through the carnival we watch them go round and round

All we knew of home was just a sunset and some clowns.

Well you were a magazine, I was a plain jane

Just walking the sidewalks all covered in rain

Love to just get into some of your stories

Me and all of my plain jane glory

Just me and all of my plain jane glory."

Anna finished singing the song, a small smile appearing on her face when she hit the last note. She looked over at Brittany, smiling even wider when she made eye contact with her girlfriend. "So? Did you like the song?"

"The song was great, but Anna, your voice…" Brittany said, unable to describe how amazing it was at first. "Anna, your singing voice is the most beautiful sound I think I've ever heard."

Anna blushed at Brittany's compliment, her smile only growing bigger. "Thanks, babe. I'm glad that you think so," she murmured back, leaning their foreheads together. "I believe that it is now your turn to sing a song," the brunette reminded her.

"Anna, I don't want to." Brittany said. "You don't understand, I've never really sang by myself in my life." She said tearing up a little at the thought of her mother.

"Oh, I'm so sorry," Anna said, feeling a pang of guilt for pressuring Brittany to sing. "God, I feel awful now. I'm so sorry, Britt. I promise I won't ask about it again," the brunette told her.

"It's not your fault, you don't know the whole story." Britt said wiping some of her tears away and looking at Anna with slightly red eyes. "I only used to sing with my mom, every night before I went to sleep when I was younger. Even when we were in the camp and I couldn't imagine things getting any better, she would sing with me. The last time I ever sang at all was the night before Heinrick-" Brittany broke down into a sob as she thought of the memory.

Anna wrapped her arms around Brittany and pulled her into a tight embrace, rocking her back and forth slowly to help her calm down. "Shh, it's okay, baby. You don't have to keep talking about it. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have kept asking you to sing after you said you didn't want to," the brunette whispered in a soothing voice.

Brittany leaned her face forward and buried it in Anna's neck and cried into her girlfriends shoulder. "I'm sorry, I wish I could sing for you. I just-"

"No, I get it Britt. You don't have to sing for me. I should have listened to you when you said you didn't want to sing, but I didn't. I'm sorry that I pushed you too far and brought back some bad memories. Can you forgive me?" Anna asked sincerely.

"Anna I'm not mad at you, you didn't know." Brittany murmured, resting her eyes as the tears finally began to cease. "There's no hard feelings, and nothing that you did that you need to ask for forgiveness, I promise."

"I still can't help but feel bad," the brunette said, looking down for a moment. "I should've listened to you, and I should've stopped asking you about it. If I hadn't been so persistent, you wouldn't have recalled those memories."

"Please don't feel bad Anna, I know you didn't mean to upset me. And to be honest, it wasn't you that upset me. It was the memories of my mother, and you didn't cause me to think of them. I brought them up on my own." Brittany mentioned, burying her face even more into Anna's crook on her neck. Her hot breath hit Anna's skin gently any time that she spoke. "I just want to try and get some sleep, I promise this isn't your fault."

"Okay," Anna murmured back, kissing the top of Brittany's head. "I hope that you have some nice dreams, babe. I love you," she said, holding Brittany close to her and closing her eyes as she fell asleep.

"I love you too," Brittany closed her eyes, her head still buried in Anna's neck while she too fell asleep, hoping that she had sweet dreams as well.

 **So, things are about to get interesting. Let us know what you thought!**

 **Until Next Time!**


	27. Chapter 26: I Can't Lose You Again

Chapter 26: I Can't Lose You Again

Brittany woke the next morning, laying in the same position she was in when she had fallen asleep. In Anna's arms, with her face buried in the girls chest as their bodies were pulled flush together in that roomy sleeping bag. The blonde watched her girlfriend sleep and she smiled to herself, leaning forward and kissing the skin of her collarbone.

Anna began to stir when she felt Brittany's lips on her collarbone. The brunette turned in the sleeping bag so she was laying on her side, and she slowly opened her eyes. "Good morning, babe," she murmured in a tired voice.

"Good morning, Anna." Brittany said before yawning a little. "Did you get some sleep?" She asked, pulling back to look Anna in the eyes.

"Mmhm," Anna murmured back, smiling at Brittany and leaning on her elbow. "How did you sleep last night?" She asked.

"I slept as good as you can sleep on rocks." Brittany said with a chuckle. "But it was nice since I had you to cuddle with."

Anna smiled, leaning forward and kissing Brittany's lips softly. "I'm glad that cuddling with me made sleeping on top of rocks a little more comfortable," she mumbled against her lips, chuckling as well.

"Listen, about last night…" Brittany started, taking a deep breath. "I'm sorry that I snapped at you when you asked me to sing. I shouldn't have reacted that way when you didn't know the truth."

"No, don't apologize, babe. You had every right to react the way you did. I should've realized why you didn't want to sing, and I shouldn't have pushed you to sing," Anna said, looking into Britt's eyes.

"I wish I could sing for you." Brittany said, looking down for a moment. "It's just-" She paused taking a deep breath. "Until I know my mom, the rest of my family, and Hadley can rest in peace, I can't find the strength to do so."

"And I'm not going to pressure you to sing until you're ready, okay? That was wrong of me to do and I want you to know that I'm always here to support you," Anna said, smiling softly at Brittany.

"It may be a long time before that happens." Brittany said chuckling and kissing Anna's lips softly.

"I'll wait as long as you need me to, Britt. I'll wait forever if I have to," Anna replied, smiling into the kiss.

Brittany leaned into the kiss a little more, holding Anna's body close to hers. "You know, we still have an hour before we're supposed to be up." She whispered against Anna's lips.

"As a matter of fact, I didn't know that. Is there some reason that you're informing me of this now?" Anna asked, playfully raising her eyebrow at Brittany.

"Maybe, can you take a guess as to what I might be getting at?" Brittany whispered. She reattached her lips to Anna's, kissing her deeply and passionately.

Anna leaned into the kiss, tugging at Brittany's bottom lip with her teeth. "I don't know, maybe you'll just have to tell me," the brunette murmured, pulling away from the kiss with a smirk on her face.

"You're so stubborn," Brittany said with a laugh before kissing Anna once again. "I'll tell you that it involves a whole lot of kissing, and pleasure as long as we're quiet." She murmured, breathing heavily as her chest rose and fell slowly.

Anna hummed in approval of the kiss, smiling as their lips moved together in perfect sync. "I really like the sound of that, and I don't think I'll have a problem with keeping quiet."

"We'll see about that, babe." Brittany whispered before pulling herself up and on top of Anna, her hands on either side of the brunette girl's head before leaning down to kiss her.

Anna placed her hands on Brittany's hips, leaning up into the kiss and sighing with content when their lips connected. "I love you so much, babe," she mumbled against her lips.

"I love you too," Britt whispered, cupping Anna cheeks while their lips connected in a fiery kiss. "You look so beautiful all the time, even early in the morning when you just wake up. And that amazes me." Britt muttered against the burnette's lips.

Anna blushed at Brittany's words and a smile spread across her face, their lips still connected. "I feel the same way about you, babe. You're the most beautiful person I've ever seen." Brittany then added her tongue into the equation, running it across Anna's bottom lip asking for entrance. When her girlfriend allowed her access, Brittany used it expertly as they continued to grow more intense with their kisses.

Anna's hands moved from Brittany's hips to her sides, running up and down for a few minutes before going under her shirt and running along her back. The brunette's fingernails left small scratches on her skin as their tongues fought for dominance while they kissed.

"Say my name, Anna." Brittany whispered while kissing her girlfriend's lips. She began grinding on top of Anna. "Say it baby," she murmured. She pinned Anna's hands to the pillow.

"Shit, Brittany," Anna muttered under her breath, a moan rising up in her throat as the blonde started to grind their hips together. "Shit, that feels good."

"I love hearing you moan for me," Britt whispered, kissing her girlfriend's lips while she continued to grind into Anna's hips.

"And I love it when you make me moan," Anna murmured back, running her fingers through Brittany's hair as the kiss became more intense. Brittany smirked and moved her lips to Anna's neck.

The blonde let out a soft moan when Anna's hands moved her bum. "Mmmm, baby." She whispered.

Anna's hands squeezed Brittany's bum softly, and the brunette smiled when the blonde let out a little gasp. "You like that, babe?" She murmured.

"Yes," Britt nodded, continuing to kiss along Anna's soft skin on her neck. She knew that Anna knew how much the young girl enjoyed it when Anna squeezed her ass.

Anna smirked a little and squeezed Brittany's bum again, turning her head to the side to give the blonde better access to her neck. "I love it when you kiss my neck," the brunette murmured, closing her eyes and smiling.

"Those neck kisses you give me are my weakness," Brittany whispered, kissing along Anna's sharp jawline back to her lips.

Anna smiled when their lips connected again. "Your kisses are my weakness, too. I think that you're just one of my weaknesses in general."

"I could say the same about you, Kendrick." The blonde whispered before flipping them over so Brittany was now underneath Anna, gazing up at the beautiful brunette hovering over her.

Anna smiled down at Brittany, moving a few stray pieces of blonde hair out of the girl's face before leaning down and kissing her lips. The brunette slowly began to grind their hips together, their lips still connected as she did so.

"Fuck," Brittany groaned. She loved every second of this, her nails softly digging into Anna's toned back underneath her shirt as the grinding recommenced. "Harder," she moaned against Anna's lips.

Per Brittany's request, Anna's grinding started to get a little bit rougher, and the brunette began to kiss the blonde's neck. "Let me know what you want me to do, and I'll do it for you," Anna whispered in her ear.

The combination of Anna's hips dry humping against her own and Anna's lips on her neck was giving Britt multiple feelings of pleasure and ecstasy. "Don't stop this babe." She moaned softly, biting her lip so she wasn't too loud. "Fuck, please don't stop."

"I won't stop, baby, but you've got to keep quiet. We don't want to wake anyone up," Anna whispered back to her, sucking a hickey into Brittany's skin near her collarbone.

Britt nodded and held Anna's hips, groaning softly as she felt the pleasure begin to increase when Anna started to go faster with her grinding.

The friction between their bodies increased as Anna continued to grind their hips together, and the brunette moved her lips back to the blonde's. "How bad do you need me?" She whispered.

A gasp came from Britt's lips when Anna's leg came up and started to grind against her core. "I need you so badly," she whispered against Anna's lips.

Anna smirked at the reaction that she got from Brittany. "Can you tell me exactly how bad you need me?" She muttered, continuing to grind her leg against Brittany's core.

"God, fuck!" Brittany gasped, trying to stay as quiet as possible. "Babe, please just fuck me senseless." She groaned, needing to feel Anna's magical touch.

Anna smirked again, pulling away from the kiss and looking into Brittany's eyes for a few moments as one of her hands began to massage the inside of her thigh. Britt pulled Anna down into a kiss to muffle out her moans. She felt so dangerous, how they were in the heat of the moment and about to make love to each other. In the middle of the wilderness, in a sleeping bag, with dozens of people close by with thinner walls than the ones at the base.

Anna's hand trailed up Brittany's legs, occasionally stopping and leaving small scratches with her fingernails. The brunette reached the waistband of the blonde's shorts and she slowly began to pull them down her legs to tease her. "I don't know about you, but this is making me feel pretty adventurous," Anna murmured, running her hand back up Brittany's legs.

"I feel so dangerous," Brittany whispered with a deviously sexy smile, gazing with intensity up into Anna's eyes as her anticipation grew with each second that passed. "We haven't ever done it outside of the base beds, maybe that's why." She giggled before another gasp came out of her lips.

"Well since this is our first time together outside of the base, then we need to make this extra memorable now, don't we?" Anna whispered, leaning in and kissing Brittany's lips softly as she pulled her underwear down her legs.

"Blindfold me," Brittany whispered, whimpering as Anna pulled her underwear off. "That should be something new and memorable." She murmured.

Anna raised an eyebrow at Brittany, intrigued by her suggestion. "Very well. Do you have something that I can use as a blindfold?" The brunette asked.

Britt grabbed a bandana from her bag and folded it up so it's be dark enough for her not to see anything that was going on. "Here, blindfold me babe." She whispered.

Anna took the blindfold from her and tied it around Brittany's face so that it was covering her eyes. "Alright, can you see anything?" The blonde instantly shook her head, feeling the anticipation grow inside of her. She knew the blindfold would add a heightened sensitivity to whatever Anna did.

"Please, baby. I'm so ready for you." She whispered.

"I know you are, babe. Just wait a little bit longer. I promise that it'll be worth it," Anna murmured back, leaning in and brushing her lips against Brittany's for a few moments before pulling away, tugging at the blonde's bottom lip as she did so.

The young girl moaned softly, her body aching for Anna to touch her and pleasure her. "Fuck, this is going to be so hot for you to watch, I know it." She said smirking as she waited under the blindfold.

A few moments later, Anna finally gave Brittany what she wanted, beginning to touch her where she needed it most. The brunette slipped one finger inside of her, smirking when she got an instant moan from her girlfriend.

"Oh shit," Brittany gasped, laying her head back against the pillows. "Fuck, Anna." She whispered, pulling Anna down into a passionate kiss. "Fuck me hard, babe."

"Don't worry babe, I will. Just keep as quiet as you can," Anna said, adding a second finger and beginning to thrust at a slow, steady pace. Britt's body tensed up a moment before relaxing and letting Anna work her magic. She had to bite her lip in order to be quiet. She wanted to look straight into Anna's eyes with lust and love as the girl got her off, unfortunately the blindfold was prohibiting her from doing so. Even she wanted to see what Anna was doing, Brittany had to admit that not seeing it also felt very hot because she didn't know what was going to come next.

Anna gradually began to build up a pace with her thrusts, pressing her lips to Brittany's and kissing the blonde to help muffle the sounds of her moans. The brunette's tongue made its way into Brittany's mouth and began exploring, fighting the blonde's tongue for dominance at the same time. Brittany hummed against Anna's lips, also fighting for dominance even she knew with the way Anna was touching her and pleasuring her down on her core that it'd be too much for her to win.

"Mmmm," The blonde hummed feeling her walls begin to tighten around Anna's fingers.

Anna felt the blonde's walls clench up, and she began to slow down the pace of her thrusting before stopping altogether. She moved her lips from Brittany's lips and began to leave a trail of kisses down her body, not leaving an inch of her skin untouched as she made her way towards her girlfriend's core.

"God, please don't stop baby." Brittany whispered as softly as she could. Her fingers ran through Anna's thick and luscious hair, doing her best to keep quiet so no one heard them.

Anna finally reached Brittany's core, swirling her tongue around the blonde's wet folds a few time before she began thrusting with her tongue. She smirked when she heard Brittany moan softly and push her head down, knowing that it was taking all the blonde's willpower to keep quiet.

The blonde was using everything she had to keep still and keep quiet, even though her girlfriend was making it incredibly hard. "Fuck, Anna." She mumbled, tugging at the ends of Anna's hair as she did her best to not scream.

"Say my name again baby," Anna muttered. "Say my name again. I know how badly you want to. Just say my name." The brunette thrusted her tongue faster, knowing that it wouldn't take much more for the blonde to reach her climax.

"Oh my god, Anna!" Brittany muttered again as she continued to feel her body get closer and closer to climax. "Harder, baby!" She moaned as Anna gave her incredible head in the sleeping bag.

Anna continued to thrust her tongue as the blonde's walls clenched up, and she reached up and covered Brittany's mouth with her hand to keep her quiet as she hit her climax. The brunette helped her ride out her high and then kissed back up her body, finishing it off with a kiss on the lips. "You did a pretty good job of staying quiet, babe. I'm impressed."

"I'm impressed too, I didn't think I'd be able to." Brittany said with a chuckle before kissing Anna back. "Can you take off this blindfold now? I need to see your face." She whispered, moaning gently against the brunette's lips.

Anna did as her girlfriend asked and removed the blindfold, smiling when they made eye contact. "Hello, beautiful," she whispered, leaning in and kissing her again.

"How hot was I under the blindfold?" Britt asked as Anna leaned down to kiss her.

"You were very hot, but then again you always are, so it wasn't much of a difference," Anna murmured back with a smile.

"I wanted to take it off so many times so I could see what you were doing to me." Britt said with a chuckle before she sat up and grabbed her bag. "I think we should get up now." She mentioned. "I'll give you your round later, does that sound good?"

"That sounds great," Anna replied, sitting up and grabbing her bag as well. After she changed out of her pajamas and into her clothes for the day, she rolled up her sleeping bag and stepped out of the tent, seeing that the others were just starting to get up.

Terry was helping Joan get the breakfast that they had for the people going on this trip. "Only eat what is given to you, we have limited supplies of food on this journey." Terry mentioned.

Once they all had eaten, they packed up their tents and loaded everything into their cars before they hit the road again. They were going to travel about the same distance as they did yesterday, hopefully finding a spot to camp for the night on the way.

After two or so hours, they found some woods in the mountains to camp in. They were allowed wander around, so Skylar and Dale, Britt and Anna, and Ester and Meleike went on a little hike.

Brittany and Anna held hands as they walked along a trail that took them through a small forest area. "This is so beautiful. I mean, just look at all the trees," Anna said, smiling as they walked together.

"It is very beautiful." Brittany said with a big smile on her face. "The trees are so tall and filled with pines, it's amazing."

"Being outside and seeing the beauty of nature has always calmed me down. I don't know what it is about it. I just always get this calm feeling whenever I'm in places like this," Anna said.

"Maybe it's because we don't have to worry about looking over our shoulder. We just explore and look around." Brittany mentioned, squeezing Anna's hand.

Anna squeezed Brittany's hand back and smiled at her girlfriend, leaning over and kissing her cheek. "I had a really great time this morning," she whispered in her ear.

A small blush crept onto Brittany's face. "I did too," she whispered back as they continued to walk up the trail.

"And I'm definitely going to be looking forward to later," Anna added, a smirk tugging at the corner of her mouth.

"You should be, because I'm going to rock your world." Britt whispered, kissing her cheek before they continued to hike.

Skylar and Dale were walking together a couple feet ahead of Anna and Brittany, and they were also holding hands as they walked together. "I used to go on a lot of hikes with my family when I was younger. I haven't been on a hike since the war ended. It's a nice feeling, being out here again," Skylar said.

"My family liked it too, they always took us up north towards the Canada border during the summer and we'd spend our time hiking in the woods." Dale said smiling at the memory.

"You and I should go hiking together more often," Skylar said, smiling at Dale. "I've always wanted to go hiking at night when it's dark and you can see all the stars above you."

"We'll have to do that at some point." Dale answered, leaning over and kissing his cheek.

Skylar smiled, feeling his cheek turn pink where Dale had kissed him. "Yeah, we'll definitely have to do that," he said, smiling and linking their fingers as they continued walking.

"What do you want to do after the war?" Dale asked suddenly out of curiosity.

Skylar shrugged his shoulders. "I don't really know. I've thought about it, but I haven't figured out what I want to do. All I know is that whatever I'm doing and wherever I am, I want you to be there with me," he replied.

A blush snuck up on Dale's face when Sky said this, and she stopped him and kissed him. She cupped his cheeks as she did so and only pulled away once Anna, Britt, Ester, and Meleike caught up to them.

"I'm glad that it seems you feel the same way," Skylar said with a smile once their lips parted.

"Oh definitely," Anna said smirking and pushing them forward a little. "Now let's move it lovebirds, we're not allowed to be away for more than three hours and I want to see the top of this mountain."

Skylar rolled his eyes at Anna and then they continued walking on the trail. A little while later, they noticed that they were getting close to the top of the mountain. "It shouldn't be much farther now, guys," Skylar called out to them.

"Yeah, I don't think we have that much longer," Ester said as they began to spot the top of the mountain and the meadow just in front of them.

A few minutes later, they finally reached the top of the mountain, and Anna gasped when she saw the incredible view in front of them. "Wow. Everything looks so small from up here."

"It's pretty amazing." Meleike said, speaking for all of them as they stood there in awe of the view in front of them. The valley was looking very green due to the melted snow and the rain they had been getting lately. None of them had ever remembered it being this green in a really long time, maybe it was a sign that things were going to get better.

"I almost forgot how beautiful the outside world was after being in the base for so long," Skylar said with a chuckle as they looked out at the valley.

"It's been awhile since I've seen a spring like this." Brittany said, remembering her days at the camp. "I didn't really see the light of day much while I was there, let alone see the flowers bloom." She added, in complete amazement of how beautiful everything looked.

"It's really nice to see how green the valley is, especially after how bad the winter was. It kinda gives me hope that things are going to be okay once the war is over," Anna mentioned.

"Yeah, let's hope." Brittany said, taking Anna's hand and squeezing it gently.

"That's all we can really do at this point. We can just hope that everything will play out like we want it to and that we'll be able to take down Heinrick once and for all," Anna said, smiling and squeezing Brittany's hand back.

"We should start heading back to the camp now before a search party is sent for us. We've been gone almost two and a half hours." Meleike said, all the others nodding in agreement and starting to head back down the trail.

They made it back to the camp fairly quickly since they didn't want anyone to have to come looking for them. Terry saw them as they were arriving and waved for them to come to the center of the camp where everyone else was gathered. "Alright, now that everyone is here, we're going to go over our plan for when we reach the base."

Britt sat down next to Anna in one of the camp chair that they had set out for everyone. "What do you think our plan is babe?"

Anna shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know. I haven't heard anything about our plan from my aunt or my parents," the brunette replied. "I assume that we'll be split into groups when we reach the base, since that's something that usually happens on our missions."

Brittany reached for Anna's hand and then linked their fingers. "If they break us into groups, I hope you and I are together."

Anna looked down at their hands and smiled. "Yeah, I hope we're in the same group too. I hate being apart from you," she murmured back, looking into Brittany's eyes.

Brittany leaned in and gave her girlfriend a sweet, tender kiss on the lips for a moment before they were called to pay attention to Terry. "Alright everyone, it is now my sisters turn to have your full attention." Joan said.

"Thank you, Joan," Terry said to her sister with a smile before she addressed everyone. "When we arrive at the base, we can expect that we will have to face some of Heinrick's men. While he will have taken a good amount of them with him to the shipment, he isn't going to leave the base completely unguarded. Our goal is to get past the army and into the base so we can destroy it. To do this, we will be splitting you up into teams, which we will announce later once we figure out the logistics of everything."

"We must assume that even though his numbers are low, Heinrick's Healers will most likely outnumber us," Joan spoke up. "So be on your guard, and godspeed. You are all dismissed till dinner."

Once they were dismissed, everyone got up from their chairs and left to go do their own things until dinner. "What do you want to do now, babe?" Anna asked as she and Brittany walked away from the center of the camp hand-in-hand.

The blonde girl shrugged, before a yawn came up her lungs and escaped her lips. "How about a nap?" She said with a chuckle.

"A nap sounds great to me," Anna said with a smile, starting to head in the direction of their tent. When they got to their tent, Anna went inside first and climbed into her sleeping bag, smiling when Brittany laid down beside her. Britt wrapped her arms around Anna and lay her head on the girl's chest before closing her eyes.

"God, these rocks are so fucking pointy and uncomfortable." Brittany said groaning before she laughed a little bit.

"You really do not like sleeping on top of rocks, huh?" Anna said with a chuckle. "Well, it's something that you're going to have to get used to, because I have a feeling we'll be on this mission for awhile."

"I know, but just because I can get used to them doesn't mean I have to enjoy sleeping on them." The blonde said in a cute, stubborn voice.

"That is a fair point," Anna replied, smiling and running her fingers through Brittany's blonde hair. "Well, if it helps, you'll always have me to cuddle with, so hopefully that makes sleeping on rocks more comfortable."

"You make everything in my life a lot more manageable, babe." Britt said leaning up and pecking Anna's sweet lips.

"I'm glad, babe. I'll always be here to love and support you whenever you need it," Anna said, smiling as their lips connected.

"And I'll always be here to love and support you whenever you need it." Brittany mentioned, pecking Anna's lips one more time before resting her head on Anna's shoulder.

Anna smiled, leaning her head against Brittany's and closing her eyes. "You're like, the world's awesomest person ever, you know that? You're just so kind and funny and smart and beautiful and I don't understand how you do it," Anna murmured softly, her eyes still closed.

"You don't give yourself enough credit for being just as, if not more amazing than me." Brittany whispered. "I didn't fall in love with you because you were some bland, uninteresting person. I fell for you because you're strong and kind, and beautiful. I fell for you because when everything felt like it wouldn't ever get better, you came around to help me see the silver lining."

Anna smiled softly at Brittany's words, opening her eyes and turning her head to look at the blonde. "Thank you, babe. Hearing that means a lot to me," she replied, leaning in and kissing her cheek. "I'll always be by your side to help you see the silver lining when things feel like they can't get better. Always."

Britt linked their fingers together and looked at their hands with a small smile on her face. "Always," she repeated Anna words softly, feeling her heart flutter as she heard it play over and over again in her head.

Anna looked down at their hands as well, smiling when Brittany linked their fingers together. "I mean that, babe. I'm always going to be here for you when you need me," she whispered, gazing into Brittany's eyes.

"I will be too," Britt whispered, leaning over and placing a few gentle kisses on Anna's neck, squeezing her hand gently while doing so.

Anna smiled and sighed happily as Brittany began kissing her neck, turning her head to the side to give the blonde better access. "Mmm, that feels nice." This made the blonde smile as well and she continued to leave a trail of her gentle kisses down Anna's neck and back up again multiple times.

"I'm glad that it does," the younger girl murmured once she turned Anna's head to kiss her lips. "And I can't wait to take you tonight." She growled, biting Anna's bottom lip and tugging on it gently.

"I can't wait for that either," Anna murmured, smiling softly. "I know that you're going to be amazing tonight like you always are."

"I love making you feel amazing, and I love the way you make me feel." Brittany whispered.

"The same goes from me to you," Anna whispered back, leaning in and connecting their lips in a sweet kiss. "You're the only person I ever want to be with."

"Where would you want to live? You know, once all this is over?" Britt asked curiously as she twirled some of Anna dark brown hair through her fingers.

"I'll live wherever you want to live, babe. I don't care where. As long as you're with me, I'll go anywhere," Anna replied with a soft smile.

"Well, okay. But there gotta be someplace in particular that you want to be, right? Someplace that speaks to you and someplace where we can start the rest of our lives together." Brittany said cutely nudging Anna.

Anna thought about Brittany's words for a few moments before speaking again. "I mean, I've always wanted to go back to my hometown of Portland in Maine. But if you don't want to go there, we don't have to."

"Are you kidding? I'd love to go there babe." Brittany said smiling. "It's where you grew up, and I want to see it."

"Really?" Anna asked with a smile. "That's great! I can show you everything that's there. I mean, I only lived there for five years before Josh and I had to run away and were on our own, but I still remember some stuff."

"Those are your roots, where you came from. I want to know where you came from, where the love of my life came from." Brittany whispered, kissing Anna's lips gently.

Anna smiled as their lips connected. "Thank you, babe. That means a lot to me," the brunette murmured back, leaning into the kiss.

Meanwhile, Skylar and Dale were sitting by a campfire that Terry and James had set up. Skylar had Dale sitting in his lap and his arms were wrapped around her waist. "You are so beautiful, you know that right?" Skylar murmured to Dale, leaning in and pressing a few soft kisses to her neck.

"Thanks," Dale said with a small blush creeping onto her cheeks as Skylar kissed her neck in the wide open for everyone to see. "Babe, we're in public." She giggled as Skylar continued to kiss her neck.

"And is that some sort of problem?" Skylar asked, kissing her neck a few more times before pulling away. Dale chuckled and shook her head, she knew Sky didn't mind showing his affection in public. The girl truly did love this, Skylar was such a wonderful person and she was more than lucky to have him.

"It's not a problem, you just make me laugh and smile." Dale mentioned before leaning down to kiss him on the lips.

Skylar smiled and hummed in approval of the kiss. "I'm glad I make you laugh and smile, babe. I love making you happy," he murmured against her lips.

"I hope I do the same for you, babe." Dale whispered once they pulled back from the kiss.

"Of course you do the same for me, babe. You make me happier than anyone else ever has," Skylar replied, smiling and gazing into Dale's eyes.

Dale leaned in and kissed him once again, smiling as she did so. "I love you," she whispered once they pulled back.

"I love you too," Skylar murmured back, slowly pulling away from the kiss. He leaned their foreheads together, smiling softly. "I love you so very much."

"Can I ask you something?" Dale said. When Skylar nodded, Dale did as well and then continued. "What is your plan, after this whole war is over?"

"Well, I'd like to settle down somewhere nice and quiet. Other than that, I don't really know. Why do you ask?" Skylar said.

"I was just wondering, if I'd be in the picture." Dale asked cutely, smiling gently.

"Of course you're in the picture, Dale. I can't picture a future without you," Skylar replied genuinely.

"Okay, good." Dale said smiling before leaning in and kissing his lips one more time.

"Did you think that you weren't in the picture?" Skylar asked when their lips parted.

"Well, no. You just said settle down. I didn't know if that meant with me or by yourself." Dale chuckled.

"Well I meant settle down with you," Skylar said, chuckling along with Dale. "There's nobody else who I'd rather settle down with than you." Dale took his hand in hers and smiled softly before bringing it up to her lips to place a gentle kiss on it.

"You're my perfect guy, I hope you know that." Dale said smiling.

"You're my perfect girl, and I hope you know that. If you ever forget, I'll always remind you," Skylar said, smiling back at his girlfriend.

"I do know that," whispered Dale.

That night everyone was in their tents getting ready to sleep, except for a couple of girls. Brittany was currently grinding her hips against Anna's, kissing her and holding her close.

"Fuck, this is good," Anna whispered, kissing Brittany back passionately as the blonde's grinding created friction between their bodies.

"You're so hot," Brittany whispered back, moving her lips to Anna's neck. Her hands ran up and down Anna's strong arms and she kissed a rough trail down Anna's neck and collarbone.

Anna let out a quiet moan, biting down on her lip so that she wasn't too loud. Her fingers ran through the blonde's long locks of hair. "Shit, you're so good at this," the brunette mumbled under her breath.

"Thanks baby, you're doing a good job at keeping quiet. But then again, I haven't even gotten started yet." She whispered, nibbling on some of Anna skin. She would soothe the little love bites with gentle kisses.

Anna shivered whenever Brittany's lips went to her skin, and she squirmed around underneath the blonde. "You have no idea how much you're turning me on right now," Anna whispered softly, running her hands up and down the blonde's sides.

"You have no idea how hot you are when you're turned on." Brittany muttered before kissing her lover's chest, sneaking her hand into Anna's pajama pants.

Anna pushed Brittany's head closer to her skin, groaning when she felt the blonde press her hand against her core. "God, Britt," she muttered, biting down on her lip to keep herself quiet. Brittany smirked and cupped Anna's core with her hand, feeling the moisture and heat coming off of her girlfriend as she did so.

"You want it don't you?" She whispered in Anna's ear, licking the underside of her ear. "Grind against my hand babe."

Anna did as Brittany told her to, starting to grind her core against the blonde's hand and moaning at the contact. "Fucking hell, baby," the brunette moaned, letting out a little gasp.

"I won't even have to take off your clothes to fuck you," Britt whispered before getting her hand inside Anna's underwear, beginning to toy around with Anna's folds.

"Oh shit," Anna moaned, bucking her hips towards Brittany's fingers and closing her eyes. She tried to stay as quiet as possible, but was unable to keep herself from moaning when Brittany began thrusting her fingers. The blonde nimbly began to thrust her fingers in and out, kissing the brunette's soft lips as she did so, making the older girl moan softly.

"Do you like that babe?" The blonde whispered, nibbling on her lovers earlobe.

Anna nodded her head weakly, running her fingers through the blonde's hair and tugging at the ends of it. "Fuck, go faster," she moaned. Brittany smirked and began to pump her fingers in and out quicker than before, knowing that it was driving Anna insane as the girl did her best to keep quiet. Britt tugged at Anna's g spot, making the girl squirm underneath her.

Anna felt her walls begin to clench up around Brittany's fingers and she bit down on her lip, trying to hold off from reaching her climax too soon. "I'm getting close, baby," The brunette murmured, tugging at the blonde's hair while her fingers tugged at her g spot.

Britt then pulled her fingers out and kissed down her lovers stomach. To tease Anna a little, Britt looked right into her eyes and stuck the two fingers that had been inside of her into her mouth, sucking off the wetness. "Fuck, you taste so good baby."

"Fuck," Anna groaned, pushing Brittany's head down onto her skin. "Please don't tease me much longer, baby. I don't think I'll be able to last." This prompted the younger woman to pull Beca's pj pants down a little before she began to gently suck on Anna's clit, know that it would cause the brunette to moan and squirm. Brittany flicked her tongue around and sucked with the perfect amount of force.

All Anna could do was moan softly and push the blonde's head closer to her core. Since she had already been so worked up, it didn't take long for her to hit her climax. Brittany continued to thrust her tongue as Anna came down from her high, and the brunette pulled the blonde up into a kiss afterwards. "Fuck, that was so good. Thank you so much."

Brittany leaned in and kissed her lips deeply but gently. "Wow, you're so hot when you hit your orgasm. The way your body moves and your eyes roll into the back of your head. The way you pull my head impossibly closer, it's so damn sexy." She murmured against Anna's lips.

Anna smiled as their lips parted, her chest heaving as she struggled to catch her breath. "That really was amazing, Britt. Thank you," she murmured, gazing up into her girlfriend's eyes.

"You're welcome babe, I always have fun with you." She whispered, biting her lip and smiling while she looked deeply into Anna's eyes.

Anna leaned up and kissed Brittany's lips softly, tugging at the blonde's bottom lip with her teeth. "I love you so much," she mumbled against her lips, pulling away from the kiss after a few moments.

"I love you too," Britt whispered back, smiling softly. "I really hope you're in my group for the mission, after what happened last time we were at the main base…" She trailed off.

"Don't worry, babe. Even if we're not in the same group, I'll still be there to protect you if you need me to," Anna said with a soft smile.

"I thought I had lost you, you know?" Brittany mentioned, looking into Anna's midnight blue eyes. "When Heinrick erased your memory, I mean." She said. "Out of everything he'd done to me personally; watching him murder Hadley, seeing him torture you. Those were two of the worst, if not the two worst things that had ever happened to me. Because both times, I felt sick. I felt like I was going to lose what I held closest to my heart. And what he did to Hadley was horrible, I will never forget it. But the fact that he took you away from me even though you were still there, it was worse. I hated being so close to you but so far away."

Anna looked down for a moment. "Having my memory erased was one of the worst things that ever happened to me. I didn't know what was going on, I didn't know what had happened, and not knowing hurt so much. I still feel kinda guilty for how I treated you before I got my memory back," the brunette admitted.

"I still feel guilty for keeping the truth from you, that was the main reason for why you treated me the way you did. I wasn't being honest with you." Brittany said, tearing up a little.

"But that's not your fault. My aunt and uncle told you not to tell me the truth. I don't blame you for keeping it from me," Anna said, looking back up into Britt's eyes.

"I still did it Anna, I still didn't tell you the truth. I could've disobeyed them and then things wouldn't ever have gotten that bad between us to the point where we wouldn't even talk to each other." Brittany said, tracing shapes in Anna's arms. "I hated myself for not telling you the truth, I should've just been honest from the start."

Anna closed her eyes, leaning her head back on her pillow. "If you're blaming yourself for not telling me, then I'm also to blame. I treated you terribly during that time. I was horrible to you. I still don't understand how you still wanted to be around me after all that I put you through."

"I guess, when you love someone as much as I love you, it's a lot easier to forgive." Brittany said sniffling, linking their fingers together. She ran her thumb along the back of her girlfriends hand.

Anna smiled softly, bringing Brittany's hand up and pressing a kiss to it. "Thank you for never giving up on me, even when I didn't remember you. You never gave up on me, and that means so much to me," she whispered.

"I'm surprised you agreed to talk to me after all that time that was that I was dishonest with you." Brittany said, smiling with only her lips. "But I'm glad you did talk to me, I hated being apart from you."

"Me too. Being apart from you was so hard, especially after I regained my memories and remembered how important you are to me," Anna murmured, smiling and looking into Brittany's eyes.

"That's why I don't want us to be in different groups, I'm scared of losing you again." Britt whispered, a couple stray tears falling down her cheek.

"Hey," Anna said in a soft voice, wiping away Brittany's tears with her thumb. "You aren't going to lose me again, okay? I promise that you won't lose me."

The blonde sniffled a little bit before looking into Anna's eyes. "I love you, and I don't know what I'll do if I-"

"Don't think about that, babe. I promise you won't lose me, and I'm not one who likes to break promises," Anna said, trying to reassure Brittany and calm her down.

"I'm scared, Anna." Brittany said, looking up into Anna's eyes. "I'm so scared of what's about to happen, because I have no clue what the outcome is going to be."

"You have every right to be scared. We don't know what the outcome is going to be. But I'm going to be right by your side, and I'm going to do everything in my power to make sure that I stay by your side through it all," Anna said, looking into Brittany's eyes. "I don't want to lose you, and I'm not going to let you get hurt either."

"I'm not going to let you get hurt either." Brittany said, leaning in and kissing Anna's lips softly.

Anna smiled, lingering on Brittany's lips for a few moments before pulling away. "I'll always love you, Brittany. I'll always love you and I'll always be here for you when you need me."

"All in?" Brittany said smiling softly, her heart beating with a little less stress than before.

"All in," Anna repeated, leaning their foreheads together as she spoke. She leaned in a little more so that their noses were almost touching, their lips only inches apart as well. Britt closed the gap and brushed her lips against Anna's lightly.

"I remember our first kiss." Brittany said smiling to herself. "I was really nervous because you'd never been kissed before, and I wanted it to be perfect for you. I hope that it was." She said, smiling to herself at the memory. "It made me realize that it was okay for me to fall in love again."

Anna smiled softly at her girlfriend's words. "It was a perfect kiss, babe. It's the best kiss I've ever had. Then again, all the kisses I've had have been amazing because they've all been with you," the brunette said with a chuckle.

The blonde chuckled before she stretched and yawned. "So, we should probably get some sleep." She said chuckling.

"Yeah, I guess that would be a good idea," Anna said, chuckling again. She wrapped her arms around Brittany's waist and pulled the blonde closer so that she was spooning her. "Goodnight, babe. I love you."

A soft smile spread across Britt's face as Anna spooned her and then she closed her eyes. "Goodnight Anna, I love you too."

 **What ever will happen next to our group of misfits? Plus, some pretty hot stuff has been going on in Anna and Britt's tent. Let us know what you thought.**

 **Until Next Time!**


	28. Chapter 27: Near The Main Base

Chapter 27: Near The Main Base

The group had continued traveling at the same pace, and they were now within two days of reaching Heinrick's main base. The tension among the group started rising as they got closer to the base, everyone nervous about what would be waiting for them when they arrived. On top of that, Terry still hadn't announced the groups for the mission, so everyone was kept on their toes as they waited to find out who they'd be fighting with when facing the Healers.

Sam was currently eating breakfast while sitting next to her sister. "Gemma?" She asked, putting her spoon down for a moment.

"Yeah?" Gemma answered, swallowing a bite of oatmeal.

"Am I, like, not likable?" Sam asked.

Gemma finished her bite of oatmeal and looked over at her sister with a confused look on her face. "What do you mean?"

"Am I not a lovable person? Like, why do you think I can't score a pretty girlfriend like Brittany?" Sam asked, taking a sip of some tea.

Gemma shrugged her shoulders, swallowing another bite of oatmeal. "I don't know, Sam. I do know that you are definitely a lovable person. Maybe you just haven't found the right person yet."

"I could've had Anna, but my morals took over when she lost her memory." She said, looking over at the brunette as she ate with Brittany, Josh and Lucas. "I really like her, but I obviously can't have her. Do you have any advice on what I should do?"

"I wouldn't try to take Anna from Brittany if I were you. I'm not saying that you would do that, I'm just saying that wouldn't be a good idea. They seem like they're really serious about each other, and trying to break them apart now wouldn't be fair to anyone," Gemma said to her sister. "Just don't give up hope. There will be someone out there for you. I know it."

"How do you know that? What if the 'someone' isn't out there for me? I've never felt anything, or been with anyone, I've never even been kissed. At least before Josh you had Danny." Sam said, playing with her spoon.

Gemma paused for a moment, not sure how to answer Sam's questions. "Everyone has someone out there for them. It might take awhile to find that person, but you will find them. Me, I've been lucky enough to find my person already, but that doesn't mean that you never will," she said, trying to reassure her sister.

"You've had two guys fall for you in the last five years. That's easy for you to say." Sam said in a somber tone before standing up and walking to deliver her breakfast dishes to Terry. She then walked back to her tent.

Gemma sighed as she watched her sister get up and walk back to her tent. She wanted to go after her, but she knew that it was best to give Sam some time to herself at that moment.

Just then Josh walked over and sat down next to Gemma, kissing the side of her head. "Hey beautiful," he said placing his arm around her shoulder. "How are you this morning?"

"I'm alright," Gemma replied, smiling and blushing when Josh kissed her head. "How are you?" She asked him, taking a sip from her cup of tea.

"Better now that I'm here with you." Josh said smiling and kissing her cheek. "What's up with Sam? She seemed a bit down." He asked sweetly.

"She's a little upset," Gemma said, looking over at her sister's tent. "She thinks that she's an unlovable person because she's not in a relationship."

"Well that's not true at all, everyone loves Sam." Josh mentioned, twirling Gemma's hair between his fingers. "Besides, there's someone out there for her."

"Exactly. That's what I tried to tell her, but she wouldn't listen to me," Gemma said with a disappointed sigh.

"Just give her some time. I mean, I can understand that it would be hard. She hangs out with us, and most of us in our groups are couples." Josh added, kissing Gemma's cheek. "Maybe she just feels left out of the loop a little."

Gemma nodded, smiling a little. "I know, I just hate seeing her upset, you know? It makes me feel bad. I feel like I could be doing something more to help her feel better."

"Why don't you go and talk to her, that may help. She probably just needs a sister-to-sister talk." Josh mentioned, smiling and looking into Gemma's eyes.

Gemma hesitated at first, but then she nodded and stood up. "Yeah, you're right. I'll go talk to her," she said, leaning down and giving Josh a quick kiss on the cheek before heading over to Sam's tent.

"What are you doing here?" Sam asked when Gemma suddenly crawled in her tent. "Aren't you hanging out with your boyfriend?"

"I want to hang out with you," Gemma replied, sitting down next to her sister. "If that's okay with you," she added after.

"Yeah, it is." Sam said before continuing lay down at look at the ceiling of the tent aimlessly. "I know why you're in here, I could hear yours and Josh's conversation."

"I'm just trying to help, Sam. I don't really know what to do. I tell you to keep your head up but you won't listen to me, and then I end up feeling bad because I should be doing something more," Gemma said, looking over at her sister.

"I've been try to keep my head up for years, Gemma." Sam said sighing. "Plus, you don't have a clue what it's like, I have to watch the person I have feelings for be happy with someone else. It just sucks, that's all."

"You're right. I don't know what it's like. But I know that there's someone out there for you, and if you're truly meant to be with that person, then you'll find that. You just have to believe that your person is out there. It might seem useless, but you should still at least try to believe it," Gemma replied.

"I've never even been kissed, did you know that?" Sam said, sighing. "I'm twenty-three and a half years old, and I've never even kissed someone." She said shaking her head. "But I'll do my best to try and believe that my soulmate is out there."

Gemma smiled softly and put a hand on her sister's shoulder. "I promise that everything will work out for you in the end. It just has to. You're too good of a person for it not to work out."

Sam wanted to tell Gemma that of course she could say that, she already had her happy ending with Josh. She had someone who would hold her in their arms if they were dying, Same hadn't ever had that. "I hope you're right."

Gemma smiled at her sister, leaning over and hugging her. "I just want the best for you, Sam. You deserve it," she murmured in her ear as she embraced her tightly.

"I just want the best for you too." Sam said as they pulled back from the hug. "Thank you for coming to talk."

"Don't thank me. It was the right thing to do," Gemma replied. She then got up to leave the tent. "You gonna come with me?"

"Sure, yeah." Sam said, getting up and following her older sister out of the tent.

Gemma walked back over to Josh, who was finishing up his breakfast. "We're back," she said, smiling and sitting down next to him. She leaned in and kissed his cheek sweetly.

"Hey, two lovely ladies." Josh said smiling when she kissed his cheek. "We're packing up in a couple hours to go to the next camp, do you guys want to explore while we pass time?"

"That sounds like a great idea! I'd love to go for a little hike," Gemma said to her boyfriend with a smile. She then turned to Sam. "What about you, Sam? Do you want to join us?"

Sam nodded. "Yeah sure, I'd be down for that." She said smiling softly before sitting next to Gemma.

"Alright, then it's settled. Once Josh finishes breakfast, we'll go on a little hike," Gemma said, looking from her sister to her boyfriend with a wide smile on her face.

"That sounds good to me." Josh said smiling back at her.

"Yeah, awesome." Sam answered, smiling at her sister.

Brittany was cleaning the dishes when she felt two familiar arms wrap around her waist. Anna pulled Brittany close to her, resting her chin on the blonde's shoulder. "Hey babe. Whatcha doing?" The brunette asked in a cute voice.

The blonde chuckled and smiled as her girlfriend held their bodies close together. "I'm helping Terry by cleaning the dishes. She has so much on her plate already," Brittany said laughing at her pun for a moment. "But I just thought she could use someone helping her."

"That's nice of you to do. I bet she'll really appreciate it," Anna said, leaning in and pecking Brittany on the lips before letting her return to the dishwashing.

"It's the least I could do," Brittany said smiling sweetly. After a moment, a smile appeared on her face. "I love it when you walk up behind me and hold me like this." She giggled.

"Oh yeah? Maybe I'll just have to do this more often then," Anna said, leaving a few soft kisses on Brittany's neck.

"I definitely won't mind if you do decide to continue doing it." Brittany mentioned, smiling at the feeling of the smooth pecks Anna was leaving on her skin.

Anna continued to leave kisses on Brittany's neck, gently nipping at the blonde's skin with her teeth on occasion. "Let me know if I'm distracting you, babe," the brunette murmured. Surprisingly, Britt managed to continue cleaning the dishes while enjoying Anna's soft kisses.

"You know my every weakness," Britt murmured, biting her lip as Anna continued. She was almost done washing the dishes so she leaned into it a little more.

By the time the blonde had finished washing the dishes, Anna had made sure that no inch of her skin was left untouched by her lips. "I'm quite impressed that you managed to get the dishes done without being distracted by my kisses," the brunette said with a chuckle. "Good job, babe."

"Believe me, it was really hard for me to do." Brittany said with a sigh of relief as she dried the last dish and packed it up. She put her hands on the counter smiled as Anna's hands smoothly ran up and down her sides.

Anna turned Brittany around and leaned in, kissing her lips gently. "I love you," she murmured once their lips parted, a smile spreading across her face.

"Mmmmm, I love you too." Brittany said smiling and biting her lip as Anna pulled away, blushing a little as well in the most adorable way possible.

Anna smiled when Brittany blushed. "You are so cute, you know that, right?" The brunette asked her girlfriend.

"Thanks," The blonde said blushing even more, shrugging her shoulders up to her ears for a moment. "I guess I was just born that way."

"Well I'm glad that you were born that way, because you're one of the most adorable people ever," Anna replied, leaning in and kissing the tip of Brittany's nose.

"One of?" Britt asked, raising an eyebrow at her girlfriend with a questionable look on her face. "Just one of the cutest people ever, or 'the' cutest person ever?"

Anna chuckled. "Forgive me for misspeaking, I meant to say that you're the most adorable person ever," she said, smiling back at Brittany. The blonde wrapped her arms around Anna's shoulders and leaned their foreheads together.

"Can I ask you something?" Britt whispered, not pulling back from the embrace.

"Yeah, what's up?" Anna whispered back, leaning her forehead against Brittany's while her hands rested on the blonde's hips.

"I know that we haven't been together super long, but I want to make a promise that maybe one day-" Brittany paused to take a deep breath. "Maybe one day you and I could get married. And I know that it's a really long ways away till something like that happens, I just, I love you more than anything and I want to be with you the rest of my life."

Anna listened to Brittany as she spoke, a smile slowly spreading across her face. "And how would we make this promise?" The brunette asked the blonde.

At first, Brittany was taken by surprise at Anna's answer. She didn't expect the brunette to want this, but the fact that she did made Britt's smile grow wide. "I don't know, maybe some sort of necklace."

"Alright, that sounds good," the brunette replied, leaning in and pressing her lips against Brittany's in a gentle and sweet kiss. "I would love nothing more than to make this promise to you, babe," Anna murmured to her softly.

"Really?" Brittany asked, feeling her heartbeat begin to speed up as she heard Anna's words. "You really want that someday with me?"

Anna nodded, smiling at Brittany. "Of course I want that with you, Britt. You're the love of my life. I'd be honored to marry you someday," she said genuinely.

This made the young blonde tear up with happiness, taking Anna's hands in her own and smiling down at how perfectly they linked together. "You have no idea how happy it makes me to hear you say that."

Anna smiled softly, leaning in and connecting their lips in a sweet kiss. "You have no idea how happy you make me," she said when their lips parted. She then backed Brittany up and lifted her up onto a table they had set up. "You make me the happiest girl in the world, hell, in the entire universe." She murmured before leaning in and kissing Brittany's neck again, but this time a little more sensually.

Brittany moaned softly as Anna's lips went back to her neck, wrapping her legs around the brunette's waist and her arms around the brunette's neck. "You make me happy too, Anna. I don't know what I'd do without you in my life," she murmured.

"All I know right now is I'd still be a virgin." Anna said in a joking tone, continuing to kiss all over Britt's neck and up and down her collarbone while her hands smoothly scratched the girls legs. "And I wouldn't know what love means."

Brittany sighed with happiness, pushing Anna's head closer to her skin as the brunette peppered her neck with kisses. "Your neck kisses are one of my favorite things in the whole world."

"And giving you neck kisses is one of my favorite things in the world." Anna whispered, spreading Britt's legs apart, walking between them and wrapping them around her waist as her kisses began lasting longer than before. "I also love it when push my head closer to your skin and scratch the back of my neck."

Brittany's nails scratched the back of the brunette's neck again, and she smiled. "I can't wait to spend the rest of my life with you, baby," she whispered to her girlfriend, her smile growing wider as she said those words.

"I'm all in for life baby." Anna said smiling and leaning in to kiss Brittany's sweet spot right behind her ear before saying it again. "I'm all in for life."

Brittany's heart began beating faster when she heard Anna say those words, and happy tears welled up in her eyes. "Me too, baby. I'm all in for life."

Anna then finally pulled away from Britt's neck and leaned in to kiss her. One hand cupped her cheek while the other pulled Britt's body closer by her waist. The kiss was slow and deep, and passionate. Anna could feel Britt's legs push Anna's body closer, and the brunette couldn't help but smile the kiss grew more intense. Maybe it was Anna's promise to Brittany, or just the heat of the moment, but the brunette hadn't ever felt closer to the girl.

The blonde hummed in approval of the kiss, smiling and slipping her tongue into the brunette's mouth. "I love you so much, babe. So, so much," she mumbled against the older girl's lips.

"Mmmm baby, I love you too." Anna murmured, humming with content when Brittany snuck her tongue into her mouth. "You're so fucking beautiful, I honestly don't know how I got so lucky to have you." She said smiling running her hands along Britt's waist under her shirt.

"I don't know either. I never thought that I'd end up with someone as amazing as you," Brittany murmured back, smiling as their tongues battled for dominance. Anna's tongue dance with Brittany's perfectly, neither of them really caring who won the battle. Anna moaned softly, scratched against Brittany's skin on her waist before moving her lips back to Brittany's neck.

"We might want to take this somewhere else. We don't want anyone to walk in on this," Brittany said with a cute giggle, turning her head to the side to give Anna better access to her neck.

"You're just so beautiful, I can't help myself." Anna muttered, her breathing becoming quicker by the minute. "Wherever I am, I just want to make you feel beautiful." She whispered against Britt's neck.

"And you always succeed at doing that, baby. You always make me feel beautiful, and I'm so grateful for that," Brittany replied with a smile.

"You're so perfect," Anna muttered, sucking a small hickey right under Brittany's ear. The whole session became rather heated when Anna reached up under Britt's shirt and massaged her breast gently while her other hand held Britt's neck to one side. A smirk played at Anna's lips when she heard Brittany moan and gasp. "Do you like that baby?"

"I love it," Brittany muttered under her breath, letting out another moan as Anna massages her breast with her hand. "That feels so good, Anna."

Anna would've continued but she heard people beginning to walk in. "Shit, come with me." She said giggling before taking Britt's hand, they ran off and out of the mess hall tent before Anna took Brittany behind a few trees. Anna gently pushed Britt up against the tree and resumed what she was doing before they got interrupted.

"God, you're so good at this," Brittany moaned, leaning her head back against the tree as Anna resumed what she had been previously doing, massaging her breast and kissing her neck.

"Thanks babe," Anna mumbled as her nails softly dug into Britt's skin under her shirt at the small of her back.

Brittany cupped Anna's face with her hands and pulled the brunette in for a kiss, smiling as their lips connected. "You're so amazing," she murmured.

"Maybe, but not as amazing as you." Anna said once their lips pulled apart. "You're the most fascinating person I've ever met." She mentioned before leaning in and kissing Britt's lips one more time. "As much as I'd love to continue this, we probably should get back and start packing up."

Brittany groaned, but she knew that Anna was right. "Fine. But I expect us to continue this later, if you know what I mean," the blonde said with a smirk on her face.

"Of course we will, it's the night before the battle." Anna said smirking back and raising her eyebrows playfully. "We have to get ourselves hyped up for it while also showing each other how much we love each other, and that nothing can tear us apart.

Brittany leaned in, kissing Anna's lips one last time before they started walking back towards the camp. "I love you so much, baby. Nothing is ever going to come between us. We're too strong for that to happen."

Once everything was packed up, everyone loaded up in the vans and headed north east to their final camping stop for the night, which was a little under fifty miles from the Healer's main base.

When they reached their last campsite, everyone got out of the vans and began to set up their tents for the night. Once their tent was set up, Anna crawled inside the tent and waited for Brittany to join her. The brunette scoot over to her side of the sleeping bag while she awaited the blonde to come in and join her.

Brittany was helping finish the cleanup for dinner when Terry approached her. "Brittany, can I speak with you for just a moment? It's about the mission tomorrow."

"Yeah, of course," Brittany said, drying her hands off with a towel before turning back to Terry. "What did you want to talk about with me?"

"I'm putting you in command of one of the groups for tomorrow's assault on the Healer's main base." Terry said, handing Brittany some information packet. "You'll be leading Squadron 5."

Brittany briefly looked through the information packed before looking back up at Terry. "I'm honored to be leading one of the groups, Terry," the blonde said with a smile. "Is there any chance that you could tell me who else is in my group?"

"You have Skylar, Gemma, Joan…" Terry went on to name about twelve people, but Anna wasn't in the group. "Your squadron will be heading towards the base from the northeast."

Brittany's face fell a little when she realized Anna wasn't going to be in her group, but she quickly recovered. "Thanks for letting me know. I promise I won't let you down," Brittany said confidently.

"Good, Anna will be leading Squadron 6. That will be the squadron coming in from the east." Terry mentioned. "And I know neither of you will let me down, you're dismissed."

After speaking with Terry, Britt went back to hers and Anna's tent and crawled inside. "Hey," she said, smiling when she saw Anna waiting for her.

"Hey, beautiful." Anna said smiling and opening up the sleeping bag for Britt. She noticed Britt seemed to be troubled by something. "Is everything alright?"

Brittany looked down and took a deep breath before answering Anna's question. "Terry just told me that I'm going to be leading a group in the battle tomorrow," she said, pausing again before continuing. "And you're not in my group."

"Oh," Anna answered, instantly trying to think of a way to cheer her girlfriend up. "Well, I know that's not what we wanted. But like I said, I'll always be with you. Even if I'm not physically there, I'm always in your heart."

Brittany nodded, comforted a little by Anna's words. "I know. I'm just worried for you. Terry also told me that you're going to be leading a group too," the blonde said.

"Well, then. We'll surely have walkie talkies to communicate through. I'll always be there when you need me babe, I can promise you that." Anna mentioned, tucking Brittany's perfectly wavy blonde hair back before pressing a gentle kiss to the girls lips.

Brittany smiled softly as their lips parted. "I have no idea how you always know how to calm me down," she murmured with a smile, looking into Anna's eyes.

"I guess I just have my ways," Anna said smiling back into Britt's crystal clear blue orbs. "But I will always make sure that you're okay. Because when you're stressed, I'm stressed. And when you're happy, then I'm happy."

Brittany's smile grew wider at Anna's words. "I'll always do everything I can to make sure that you're happy too, babe. It's the least I can do for you after everything you've done for me."

"And that's the least I can do for you." Anna said smiling. She then leaned in and kissed Britt on the lips gently.

Brittany smiled and leaned into the kiss, cupping Anna's face with her hands. "How did I get so lucky to have you in my life?" She murmured.

"Well, you attacked me in the woods. So really, it was your doing that we even met in the first place." Anna mentioned with a laugh. "You attacking me was pretty lucky, otherwise we never have met."

Brittany chuckled and rolled her eyes at Anna's comment. "Well, if you want to think about it that way, I guess I did cause us to meet by attacking you in the woods," she said with a giggle.

"Well it's true," Anna said smiling. "I would never have seen those beautiful blue eyes, and I never would've heard that laugh, or gazed at that smile." Anna murmured before leaning in and kissing Brittany, noticing the blonde's breath hitch as Anna caught her lips in a smooth and tender kiss.

"And if I hadn't attacked you in the woods, I may have never met you or fallen in love with you," Brittany said, running her fingers through Anna's hair as they kissed.

"See, I owe a lot to that night you tackled me with a knife at my throat." Anna said with a chuckle.

"Yeah, I guess you do," Brittany replied with a smile, biting down on her lip and looking into Anna's eyes. Anna leaned in and kissed her girlfriends lips sensually.

"I love you." Anna smiled and kissed her again.

"I love you too, Anna. Forever," Brittany murmured back, squeezing Anna's hand gently as their lips parted.

Meanwhile, Josh was laying down in a sleeping bag next to Skylar in their tent. "How are you feeling about tomorrow?" Skylar asked, looking up at the ceiling of the tent with his hands behind his head.

Josh shrugged his shoulders. "I'm a bit nervous, if I'm being honest. I just don't want to mess anything up tomorrow. We might never get a chance at a major Healer base like this again."

"You won't mess it up. Terry wouldn't have put in charge of a group if she didn't believe in you." Skylar said, patting his best friend's shoulder.

Josh nodded. "I know. I just can't help but worry. I don't want to be the reason that the mission goes wrong," he said with a sigh.

"You wanna know something?" Skylar said. "Right now, everyone is nervous. It's not just you, trust me." He sat up and looked over towards the entrance of the tent. "I'm scared, you're scared, we're all scared. But you're not going to mess things up, man. Just take a deep breath."

Josh did as Skylar told him to and took a couple deep breaths to calm himself down. "Thanks, man. Sometimes I just get really nervous before missions like this. I've been on missions that haven't gone like we planned for them to and I don't want to lose anyone."

"You know, I think Gemma is staying in a tent with Dale. You could switch Dale places and go stay the night with Gemma. She always manages to keep you calm." Skylar mentioned, scratching his head. "Plus it's the last night before the mission and I'm pretty sure you'd rather spend it with your girl."

"Yeah, that's a good idea. I'm also sure that you'd rather spend the rest of the night with Dale than with me talking your ear off," Josh replied with a chuckle.

"Well, she is my girlfriend." Skylar laughed before Josh stood up and put his shoes on. "Good night buddy." He said before Josh waved and headed to find Gemma.

A few minutes later, she saw the tent door unzip and a smile spread across Skylar's face when Dale appeared. "Hey there, beautiful."

"Hey there, handsome," Dale replied, crawling inside the tent and zipping it back up. She laid down next to Skylar, a smile on her face. "How are you?"

"Pretty great now that you're here with me." Skylar said pulling Dale close and giving her a sweet kiss on the lips.

Dale smiled when their lips connected and leaned into the kiss, only pulling away when Skylar did. "I can say the same, Sky," she murmured with a smile.

"I'm glad you're here with me. I was feeling pretty nervous about tomorrow and I needed your comfort." Skylar mentioned, tracing shapes on the girls lower back.

"Well I'd be happy to comfort you, as long as you'll do the same for me," Dale replied, smiling and leaning in for another kiss.

Skylar held her close and kissed her back, running his hands up and down her back. "You know I'd do anything for you."

"I know that, and I hope you know that I'd do anything for you as well," Dale murmured back against his lips.

The young man noticed the younger woman was trembling a little, and he decided to say something about it. "Is everything okay, you're shaking babe?"

"Yeah, everything's fine," Dale said, looking down a little. "Everything's fine, you don't need to worry about me."

"I don't believe that, you looked away from me when you said that." Skylar answered gently. "Come on, Dale. Talk to me." He said in a concerned tone.

Dale sighed and ran her fingers through her hair. "I'm just worried about tomorrow, that's all. And I know that everyone else is, but I can't help it. I can't bear the thought of you getting hurt or even-" She cut herself off, taking a deep breath. "I just can't lose you, Sky. I don't know how I'll live with myself if I do."

"Hey," Skylar said, pulling her close to him. "I'm gonna be careful, I promise you that. Nothing bad is going to happen to me, I'll be alright." He whispered, pulling her close as the blonde teared up.

Dale wrapped her arms around Skylar's shoulders and buried her face in his chest. "Please don't leave me, Sky. I love you so much and I can't live without you," she whispered, a few tears falling down her face.

"I'm never going to leave you, Dale." Skylar whispered, just holding her in his arms and letting her cry for a moment before her lifted her chin with his finger so they were face to face. "Nothing is ever going to tear us apart, and nothing ever will."

Dale was silent for a few moments, never wanting to let go of Skylar. "Can you promise me that?" She murmured softly. "Can you promise me that?" She repeated.

Skylar looked at her blankly for a moment, knowing he couldn't promise that nothing would happen to him. "Dale-" he began, taking a deep breath. "I can't promise that, but I can and will promise you that I will do everything in my power make it back to you alive. And I know that's not what you want to hear, but it's the best I can do." He said tucking her hair back and leaning forward to kiss her forehead. "I will fight harder than I ever have in my life to get back to you safely."

Dale closed her eyes, taking deep breaths to calm herself down. "It's not what I want to hear, but I'll take what I can get," the blonde said after a few moments of silence, opening her eyes and gazing into Skylar's.

"Dale, you're my everything. And I'm not going to leave you, no matter what." Skylar said, gazing back in her eyes as he too teared up a little. "No matter what happens tomorrow, I will do whatever I can to make it back to you. Even if I'm injured or to the point where I'm lucky to still be alive, I will give everything I have to make sure that your in my arms again at the end of the day."

Dale smiled a little at Skylar's words, leaning in and kissing his lips softly. "I love you so much, Skylar Astin," She murmured as their lips parted. "I love you so much and I'm so thankful that I have you in my life."

"I love you too, Anna Ragsdale Camp." Skylar said smiling at her before leaning in and kissing her lips, pulling her body as close as it possibly could be to his own.

Dale lingered in Skylar's lips for awhile, only breaking the kiss when she needed to catch her breath. "I am so incredibly lucky to have an amazing boyfriend like you," she said, her smile growing wider as she leaned in and connected their lips again.

"And you're the most amazing girlfriend any guy could ever ask for." Skylar mentioned, moving his hands to rest on her bum while Dale leaned in to kiss him again. He moaned softly as their bodies pressed together and smiled into the kiss.

Dale's arms hung around Skylar's neck and she smiled into the kiss, tugging at his bottom lip with her teeth. The blonde eventually moved so that she was straddling Skylar, leaning down and kissing him passionately.

"Mmmm, I love it when you get on top of me." Skylar said smirking before kissing her again, keep his hands where they were on Dale's bum. He then kissed her again and moaned softly when the blonde's lips moved to his neck.

Dale smirked when she heard Skylar moan as she started to kiss his neck, nipping at his skin with her teeth a few times. The blonde's hands ran up and down his back underneath his shirt, her fingernails leaving scratch marks. "Am I driving you crazy?" She murmured in Skylar's ear with a low voice.

"Fuck, Dale." Skylar muttered as Dale scratched down his back. He leaned his head to one side so that Dale could kiss his neck more. "You drive me crazy baby."

"How much?" Dale murmured back, leaving a small hickey behind his ear. "How crazy do I make you?"

"Why don't I show you instead?" Skylar mumbled before sitting up and taking Dale in his arms, he then carefully flipped her over so he was on top and began kissing her neck while his strong hands moved up her shirt and began massaging her breasts underneath her shirt.

Dale gasped a little at Skylar's sudden move, then let out a soft moan. "Shit, Skylar, that feels so good," the blonde muttered under her breath, pushing his head down closer to her skin.

"We haven't really gotten any alone time lately, and I want to show you how much I love you, and how much I've missed this." Skylar muttered as his lips traveled along her skin with purpose and passion while his hands continued to play with her chest.

Dale moaned again, this moan louder than the previous one despite her knowing that she needed to keep quiet. "I've missed this so much, babe. So so much," she whispered, biting down on her lip to keep herself from moaning as Skylar continued to kiss her neck and massage her breasts.

"I have something that I should tell you," Skylar whispered in her ear, nibbling on it softly. His lips moved back to Dale's for a sweet kiss before he pulled away. "I want you to be the mother of my children." He whispered leaning his forehead against hers before kissing her softly again.

Dale slowly pulled away from the kiss and looked into Skylar's eyes with happy tears welling up in her own. "Do you mean that?" She asked, a smile spreading across her face. "Do you really mean that?"

"Of course I mean it, Dale." Skylar said smiling down at Dale. "When I told you I want to spend my future with you, that included us starting a family of our own." He stated confidently looking into Dale's eyes before kissing the palm of her hand. "I want you to be the mother of my children."

A few of the happy tears in Dale's eyes fell down her face, and she smiled up at Skylar. "I want you to be the father of my children. I can't imagine anyone else who would be a better father than you," she said, wiping away her tears with her thumb. Skylar leaned down and kissed her lips softly, wiping away the rest of her tears with his thumb as he did so.

"I know that it will be awhile before we will be able to ever consider having kids, but I just thought I would let you know that's how I feel." Skylar mentioned before kissing her again and running his hands up and down her legs.

"Well I'm glad that you told me how you feel, because I feel the exact same way," Dale replied, cupping Skylar's face with her hands and pulling him down into a passionate kiss. The young man then snuck his tongue inside her mouth and wrapped her legs around his before pulling her to sit up on his lap.

"Would you like to help me take this off?" He muttered against her lip, gesturing to his shirt.

"I would love that," Dale mumbled back, lifting Skylar's shirt over his head and then tossing it aside. "Now, would you like to help me with my shirt?" She asked.

"You know I do baby," Skylar mentioned, leaning in and kissing her lip roughly, only breaking the kiss when he pulled the shirt over her head and threw it by his. He then moved his lips to her neck and moaned softly. "You're so beautiful." He whispered, running his hands up and down her back and scratching softly against her skin.

Dale arched her back a little and reached behind herself to unclip her bra, tossing it aside after she took it off. "And you are so handsome," the blonde replied, smiling and running her fingers through Skylar's hair. That made Skylar moan and he moved his lips to her chest, where the young man started sucking on one of Dale's nipples.

"Oh Dale," he groaned, scratching her back. "I want you to grind on my lap." He muttered while sucking on her breast.

"I'll happily oblige to your wishes, love," Dale said, letting out a moan when Skylar began to suck on her nipple. The blonde began grinding on his lap, creating friction between their bodies.

"You're so sexy," Skylar muttered as Dale began to grind on his lap. "Fucking hell," he moaned, swirling his tongue around Dale's breast before doing the same to the other one.

Dale continued to grind on Skylar's lap, knowing that he was getting more and more turned on by the second. "Shit, Skylar. Keep doing that," she moaned, her back arching as Skylar's tongue swirled around her other breast.

"I know you want me," whispered Skylar as he lay her back down on the sleeping pad and began grinding on her. "The question is, how badly do you want me?" He moaned while kissing a small trail up her chest and back to her neck.

"I think you know how badly I want you," Dale muttered under her breath, feeling her core start to heat up as Skylar began grinding on her. "I want you so, so bad baby," she whimpered softly.

Skylar pulled her pants down smoothly, smirked as the girl whimpered his touch. "You have the most beautiful body, baby."

Dale closed her eyes and bit down on her lip as Skylar's lips began traveling across her skin again. "I love the feeling of your lips on my skin," she whispered, tugging at the ends of Skylar's hair.

"I have a condom." Skylar whispered, kissing her lips. "Should I get it out?" He asked with a smile before kissing her again.

"Do you want to?" Dale asked him, pulling him down into another kiss after she finished her sentence.

Skylar pulled back and reached into his bag before pulling out a condom. He rolled it on and then pulled his jeans off before kissing her lips.

Dale kissed Skylar back passionately and slipped her tongue inside his mouth. "I love you so much, Sky. Please don't wait me much longer," she moaned against his lips.

"I won't, don't worry." Skylar said pulling her underwear down quickly. "Remember, we have to be quiet."

"I know. I'll be as quiet as I can," Dale whispered back to her boyfriend with a soft smile. Skylar then leaned down and kissed her lips, smiling as the girl let out a soft moan.

"I love you so, so much." Sky said before he slowly entered her, moaning softly and kissing her lips as he felt instant pleasure.

Dale's eyes rolled back into her head and she too let out a moan as Skylar entered her. "Shit," she whispered, kissing Skylar's lips roughly as he slowly began thrusting into her.

"Is that good for you?" He whispered, thrusting at a slow pace to get her into it. His lips went to her neck where he sucked a hickey into her neck.

Dale nodded, turning her head to the side so Skylar had better access to her neck. "This is perfect, Sky," she murmured under her breath, letting out another long moan.

Skylar used his hips perfectly against hers, thrusting at a little bit faster pace now. "Ahhh fuck!" He muttered before kissing her lips.

Dale continued to moan, kissing Skylar's lips to muffle the sound as he started to go faster. "Fuck, Skylar. I need more," the blonde mumbled, loving the friction that Skylar's hips was creating between them.

"I'll give it to you harder baby, don't worry!" Skylar said before moaning softly. "Holy shit, babe!" He moaned as he started going harder.

"Keep going baby!" Dale moaned, her fingernails digging into Skylar's back as he started thrusting faster and harder. "God, you're so good at this."

"Holy fucking hell!" Skylar moaned, kissing her neck. He then whispered in her ear. "I want you ride me, babe." He muttered, slowing his pace down for a moment.

Dale moved out from underneath Skylar and then pushed him so he was laying down on his back. The blonde then hovered over him, her hands resting on his shoulders as she slowly lowered herself down onto him. "Mmm, that's good," she moaned, leaning down and kissing Skylar's lips.

"Fucking hell babe, ride me!" Skylar moaned, running his hands up and down her back and softly softly her skin. His lips left hers and began kissing her chest.

At Skylar's request, Dale began to ride him, slowly starting to bounce up and down, kissing his lips roughly as she did so. "You feel so good inside me," she whispered in Skylar's ear, knowing that would turn him on even more. This made Sky groan, just like Dale he would.

"You look so hot on top of me." Skylar whispered with a long moan before he kissed Dale again, grabbing her bum and squeezing it as she bounced on him.

The blonde felt another moan rise up in her throat as Skylar did this, but she was surprisingly able to keep quiet. She started to bounce faster, her hands still resting on Skylar's shoulders. "You're so good to me, Sky. I'm so lucky to have you," Dale mumbled, moving her lips to his collarbone.

"Oh baby, you feel so good," He moaned, feeling her walls begin to tighten up. His lips let out a moan as Dale scratched his shoulders.

Dale's walls began to clench up, and she knew that she was getting close. "I'm almost there baby," the blonde moaned, moving her lips back up to meet Skylar's in a passionate kiss.

"So am I baby," He moaned, grabbing her hips and thrusting up into her as fast as he could.

Dale continued to bounce on Skylar, knowing that they would reach their climaxes any second now. "God, I've missed how good this feels," the blonde moaned, her eyes rolling back into her head as Skylar roughly thrusted into her.

"I want to cum with you," Skylar moaned, watching her ride him harder than before. "Fucking hell," he said, feeling himself get really close to his orgasm.

Dale's walls were getting even tighter and tighter, and she knew that she was about to hit her climax. The blonde cupped Skylar's face with her hands and smashed their lips together to drown out the sound of their moans as they climaxed together. The young man kept thrusting throughout, making sure that Dale's orgasm was amazing and that it lasted for awhile. "Say my name," He murmured against her lips.

"Skylar," Dale moaned against his lips as she rode out her high. The blonde continued to bounce up and down, starting to slow down the pace until stopping altogether. Dale took deep breaths, closing her eyes and kissing Skylar again. "Thank you so much for that, Sky. I really needed that."

"I needed it too baby," Skylar said before kissing her lips and laying her down, wrapping his arms around her. "It was incredible." He murmured against her lips.

Dale rested her head on Skylar's chest, listening to his heartbeat. After a few moments of silence, the blonde turned her head a little so she was able to look into her boyfriend's eyes. "I love you."

Sky leaned in and kissed her gently. "I love you too, Dale." He whispered, pulling back to look into her beautiful green eyes.

Dale held Skylar's gaze, a small smile spreading across her face. "I can't wait to be the mother of your children," she whispered softly, still looking into his eyes.

Skylar couldn't help but smile at this, and he leaned their foreheads together. "We'll have our own little family, with mini you running around the house, and maybe a mini me as well."

Dale smiled and closed her eyes, picturing what Skylar had described. "I can't imagine anything more perfect than that," she said, opening her eyes and leaning in to kiss him again.

"And I'll fight as hard as I can to make that happen." Skylar said with a big smile. "I promise you that." He mentioned before turning off the lamp in their tent.

Once Skylar turned off the light, Dale closed her eyes and snuggled up close to him. "Goodnight, Sky," she murmured, holding him close to her.

"Goodnight my love." He said, slowly closing his eyes and falling asleep.

 **So, it's off the to the front line. Let's hope that everything goes as planned. Plus, those were some pretty sexy moments between Castin and Sendrick, huh? Let us know what you thought!**

 **Until Next Time!**


	29. Chapter 28: The Battle Begins

Chapter 28: The Battle Begins

"Wake up, Anna. It's time for the final meeting before we head out." Brittany whispered, kissing Anna's neck gently right under her ear as they lay there in each others arms at 6 a.m. in the morning. "We have a debrief in fifteen minutes."

Anna moved around in her sleeping bag, her eyes still closed for a few more minutes before she sat up, moving some hair out of her face and rubbing her eyes. "Good morning," she mumbled, leaning over and kissing Brittany's lips softly while she was still waking up.

"Good morning baby." Brittany said with a smile when Anna kissed her lips. She lingered there until Anna pulled away. "How are you feeling about today?"

"I'm still nervous, but not as nervous as I was yesterday, so that's good," Anna replied, absentmindedly running her fingers through Brittany's hair.

"I'm nervous too, but I'm happy that our squadrons will be close to each other." Brittany mentioned, smiling softly while Anna's fingers traveled through her thick blonde hair. She leaned up and kissed Anna once again, just to help calm the brunette's nerves a little.

Anna smiled into the kiss, sighing with content. "If you need anything while we're out there, don't hesitate to radio me, okay?" She murmured as their lips parted.

"I will, and you can radio me if you need anything too." Brittany said linking their hands together. "I'm gonna miss not having my partner in crime beside me out there today." She mentioned running her thumb along the back of Anna's hand.

"Me too. It's going to be weird not having you by my side during the battle," Anna said, squeezing Brittany's hand gently. "That being said, I'm still going to be with you in your heart, even though I'm not physically there with you."

The two of them shared one more gentle kiss before getting up to get dressed. They both headed to the final debrief together and sat in two chair right next to each other, waiting for everyone to arrive.

Everyone slowly began to fill up the chairs, talking in low voices as they waited for the debriefing to begin. Josh and Gemma came and sat with Anna and Brittany. "Hey, guys. You nervous for the mission?" Josh asked.

"Honestly? I'm just ready to go and get it over with." Brittany said, tucking her hair back as she sat in her chair. "So yeah, I'm a little nervous. But I'll be alright."

Josh nodded in understanding. "Yeah, I get how you feel. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't nervous myself. We just have to hope that everything goes as planned, and that we don't lose anyone," he replied.

"I think that we're all going to be alright, even if we get injured in some way, I think we are going to cause a lot of damage to Heinrick and his army today." Gemma said smiling hopefully.

Anna nodded. "We've got to make the most of this chance that we've been given, because we might not get a chance like this again. This battle could turn the tide of the war in our favor," the brunette said.

Britt squeezed Anna's hand and smiled at her before Terry walked into the middle of the circle. "Today is the day, the day we flip the war in our favor. You all have been training for this day for a very long time. I hope all of you know that I chose you because I believe in you to carry out this mission and do it successfully." She stated. "Now, that's not to say that injuries won't happen, and it does not mean deaths won't occur. It just means I believe that every single one of you will fight for what's right, and give everything you have in order to turn the tables. I have told leaders of the squadrons who they are and what part of the base they will infiltrate. They will be given a list of people in their group, once they call your name, the mission has begun. I suggest you speak with your loved ones now. Dismissed."

Anna immediately looked over at Brittany, taking one of the blonde's hands in her own and bringing it up to kiss it. "I love you, baby," she murmured, gazing into the blonde's eyes. "No matter what happens today, I love you and I'll find my way back to you if I have to."

Brittany leaned her forehead against Anna's, closing her eyes and squeezing Anna's hand. "I'm going to find my way back to you, love. I'm all in for life, Anna." She whispered, leaning in and closing the gap between their lips.

"All in for life," Anna repeated, lingering on Brittany's lips for a few extra moments before she pulled away from the kiss, a soft smile on her face. She then turned to her brother, who had just shared a moment with Gemma, and hugged him tightly. "Good luck out there, big brother."

"Good luck sis," Josh said, hugging his little sister close to him. "You go kick some Healer ass out there today, okay?" He said smiling.

Anna chuckled at Josh's words. "Yeah, I'll do that as long as you promise to do the same," she replied with a smile.

"Come on, you know I will." Josh said once they pulled back from the hug, and he left a kiss on her forehead. "Be safe." He said.

"You better be safe too. I almost lost you once and I don't want that to happen again," Anna said in a serious voice.

"I will be, and you better stay safe. I can't stand the thought of actually losing my little sister. I've almost lost you twice, now that I think of it." Josh said before pulling his sister into one more hug.

Anna embraced Josh tightly, knowing that it could be hours or even days before she saw her brother again. "You've taught me everything I know. If it weren't for you, I wouldn't be as strong as I am."

"Just remember that I'm just a radio away." Josh said smiling. "I'm going to be alright, and I'll radio in all the time so that you know I'm okay."

"And I'll do the same for you," Anna said, smiling softly at her brother. A few tears welled up in her eyes and fell down her face, but the brunette quickly wiped them away. "Just promise that you'll be okay?"

"I promise I'll be okay." Josh said smiling at his sister before it was time to call out their groups.

Everyone got into their groups as Terry called out the names. Anna looked at the members of her group, nodding her head a little as she thought about the plan. Once everyone was in their groups, Terry spoke again. "You are to listen to your group leaders while on the mission. They have the instructions for your part of the mission, which they will explain to you shortly. If we follow our plan, we should be victorious."

Once everything was discussed, they all got in the cars and headed the fifty miles to the main base. Each car took a different route to get on their side of the building.

When Anna's group reached their spot, they hopped out of the car and got ready. The brunette radioed in to let her aunt know that they were in position. "We're in position, Terry. We can see the building from here, but we're hiding behind some trees so any guards shouldn't be able to spot us."

"Good to hear, how many guards are at your entry point?" Terry called through the radio as Anna's group sat off the entrance.

Anna took out her binoculars and looked over at the entrance, seeing a couple guards by the door. She looked and saw that there were a few more standing on a balcony a couple floors up. "There's five that I can see right now. We should be able to take them out pretty easily."

"Just keep your eye out for any more, it's not going to be easy to get in. Heinrick has all kinds of traps that the guards know inside out, so just be on your guard, over." Terry said through the radio.

"Alright, I'll radio in again if anything changes. Let me know if and when you want us to move forward with the next step of the plan," Anna said to her aunt through the radio.

"Standby while I check in with the other squadrons. Over and out." Terry said before the line went silent.

Once the radio went dead, Anna turned to the other members of the group. "We're going to stay put for now until we get further orders. Keep an eye on the guards; we don't know if they can see us and we can't risk being spotted."

Brittany then radioed in. "Hey, how is everything looking from your side babe?" She asked, hoping to hear a quick response from her girlfriend.

"It's not looking too bad over here. There are some guards over here, but it's nothing that me and my group can't handle." Anna replied. "How's it looking from your side?"

"About twenty guards from my entrance, and knowing Heinrick he probably has some sort of mine field or booby traps around here somewhere." Brittany stated. "Has Terry radioed you?"

"Yeah, I talked to her a few minutes ago actually. She'll probably be radioing you to check on your group any minute now," Anna said to her girlfriend.

"She actually just radioed me." Brittany mentioned, tightening her pony tail a little as she talked into the radio. "After she went to another line I thought I'd radio you."

Anna smiled softly at Brittany's words. "Well I'm glad that you did. Knowing that you're okay is helping to calm me down," the brunette said through the radio.

"Same, I needed to know if everything was good on your side." Brittany mentioned. "I'll radio back in a little while, okay? I love you."

"I love you too. Stay safe and don't hesitate to radio me if you need anything," Anna replied, adding another "I love you" before the line went dead.

When they got the green light from Terry, Anna called her bow and arrow people forward. "There should be sensors to trigger traps," she said. "If you can, try and figure out where they are when you shoot the men."

The brunette squinted her eyes, scanning the area ahead of her to try and figure out where the traps were. After a few minutes, she decided to worry about that later, instead aiming for the nearest guard and watching as the arrow flew towards him and struck him in the neck, killing him instantly.

"Nice shot, Anna." Gemma said from behind Anna. "What did Terry say?"

"She just told me that we can go ahead with the next step of the plan, which is to take out the guards. We also need to figure out where the traps are and disable them so that nobody gets hurt when we move towards the base," Anna said, already picking up another arrow and aiming for the next guard.

"I mean, I know it's a long shot, but what if we threw something there. They won't really care for a rock or two. The trap will go off if the rock lands on it." Gemma mentioned. "All we have to do is find one that is light enough so they won't hear it hit the ground."

Anna shot the arrow, watching as it hit one of the other guards. She then paused, thinking about Gemma's idea. "You know, that's actually a good idea. Can you get some of the other people to start looking for rocks while I take out the rest of these guards?" Anna asked her.

"Yeah, but be quick. We don't want any of the guards running off to tell on us." Gemma said patting Anna's shoulder before she turned to everyone and told them to start looking for stones.

While Gemma lead the search for stones, Anna hit the final three guards, her aim accurate every time. She slung her bow over her shoulder and grabbed her quiver of arrows before joining the rest of the group in looking for rocks.

"We've found a few so far, my guess is we've collected enough to throw every ten feet or so." Gemma mentioned as they continued to look.

Anna looked out at the land ahead of them, then turned back to Gemma. "Alright, we need to start throwing rocks. But we have to be fast, because we don't want the Healers to figure out what we're doing before we set off all the traps.

Gemma and some of the others started moving forward, tossing rocks one at a time every ten feet for so. The girl would wave if it was okay for the others to move along. Surprisingly the first trap wasn't until about fifty feet from the base, and Gemma pushed everyone back when a few mines went off so no one became injured.

They continued onward, setting off mine after mine and creating a pathway towards the base. Once they got to the entrance, Anna reached for the handle of the door and tried to turn it, only to find it to be locked. "Shit. What do we do now?"

"Radio back to base." Gemma suggested. "My parents should know how to unlock the doors from the outside without a key."

"Alright," Anna said, taking her radio out of her pocket and doing as Gemma told her to. "Anna to base. Is anyone there?"

"Squadron Six Leader, we read you loud and clear, what seems to be the issue at hand?" A male voice, which Anna assumed to be Gemma's father on the other end.

"We took out the guards and got through the minefield, but the entrance door is locked," Anna said through the radio. "What should we do?"

"The lock is a deadbolt, you need a strong force." He said. "If you don't have a key, you need to break the lock."

"How should we break the lock?" Anna asked through the radio. She then turned to Gemma. "Search the bodies of the guards and see if any of them has a key for the door," she told her.

"A heavy rock, just something with a lot of force. Unless you can find a key, that's your best option." Gemma's father said.

As soon as he said that, one of the other group members came up to Anna and handed her a key. "Looks like there's no need for the rock, we just found a key," Anna said through the radio as she walked towards the door, smiling when it unlocked.

"Alright, once you're inside, the center of the base is about half a mile through some twists and turns. When you come up to conjoining hallways, let me know and I'll direct you and your group towards the center. Be careful in there." Gemma's father said, staying on standby in case Anna needed help or directions.

Anna nodded, relaying the instructions to the rest of the group before they went inside. They walked into a dark room and Anna signaled for everyone to keep their guard up as they slowly walked towards the next door. Opening the door, Anna carefully walked forward, stepping into the hallway. She made sure that there were no guards before the group began to walk down the hallway.

After making a couple turns, they reached the hallway that Gemma's father had described to them. "Anna to base, we've reached the conjoining hallway," the brunette said through the radio.

"I see you," Gemma's father said. "Head to the right, then take the second left. The hallway is clear for the next few turns for now."

Anna lead the group down the hallway, making the turns that Gemma's father told them to. She then stopped, hearing voices speaking ahead of them. "I can hear voices. Are there guards ahead of us?" She whispered.

"Yes, there are four guards around the left corner. My suggestion is you take them out as quietly and as quickly as you can. The longer you take and the louder you are, the more likely you are to get caught." Gemma's father said into the radio quietly.

Anna put her radio back into her pocket, bringing out her dagger and slowly walking forward. She pressed her back against the wall, waiting a few moments before peeking out from behind the wall. She saw the four guards, ducking back behind the wall for cover. "Quietly and quickly," the brunette thought, repeating Gemma's father's words in her head.

The young leader's hand reached forward, finding a light switch and flipping it off. The hallway plunged into darkness, the soldiers asking each other what had happened. Anna snuck up behind each one of them, taking the first one out by slitting his throat and helping him fall to the ground softly. The brunette swiftly took out the remaining three guards one by one, being quiet enough so that the others didn't notice until it was too late. "Coast is clear," she called out to the group once she had taken out all four guards.

Gemma switched on the lights again, revealing the fallen Healers bodies. "Nice stealth there Anna." She said as she walked up to the brunette with the rest of their group.

Terry then came in on the radio. "Squadron Six, this is Squadron One's leader, what is your current position?"

"Squadron Six is currently inside the base. We disabled the traps near the entrance and took out guards both outside and inside the base," Anna said through the radio as the group continued walking down the hallway.

"Good to hear, Squadron Seven, One, Two, Four, and Eight have all made inside the base. Squadrons Three and Five are making progress. Keep moving forward and wait for the rest of the Squadrons once you get to the center of the base." Terry called out. "Over and out."

Anna and her group moved forward with the help of Gemma's father's instructions, only encountering a few more guards on their way to the center of the base. "We should be getting there soon. We've been in here for quite a while," Anna said to Gemma as they turned a corner and continued walking down the hallway.

"How far did my dad say the center was from our entrance?" Gemma asked, holding her machine gun up as they lead the group closer to the center.

"I remember him saying that it shouldn't take more than 30 minutes for us to reach the center of the base," Anna replied. "It certainly feels that we've been here for that long, maybe even longer."

"Well, we have had to be on the lookout for Healers, hopefully it's not that much longer." Gemma said as she and Anna continued to walk down the hallway with the other members of their squadron following close behind.

After they walked for another ten minutes, Anna took out her radio and contacted Gemma's father again. "Anna to base, how much longer do we have before we reach the center?"

"You've gone four tenths of a mile into the base." Gemma's father said through the radio. "You have three more turns and then you should be at the center. Just be on standby and I'll tell you where to go. You're almost there."

The squadron made the next three turns, only to come face-to-face with a wall. Anna raised her eyebrow in confusion and radioed back to Gemma's father. "There seems to be a wall where you said the center of the base would be."

"The center of the base is behind that wall. Terry gave two people in each squadron some drills to get through the stone wall. You have to be quick and quiet, and keep people on guard while they're drilling the wall." Gemma's father said. "Call out whoever has the drills and get them to the wall."

"Alright, we'll get on that right away. Can you keep an eye out for guards and let us know if there are any headed our way?" Anna asked him.

"Consider me your eye in the sky," Gemma's father said before the two people with the drills were called to set up and start tearing down the wall.

Anna and Gemma watched as the wall was slowly torn down, making sure that they never turned their backs from the hallway for too long in case any guards managed to slip by Gemma's father's watch. Once there was a hole in the wall large enough for them to climb through, Anna went first, followed by the rest of the group. "Alright, we're past the wall. I think we've finally reached the center of the base."

"Yes, you guys are there. Have a couple people stand guard in case any Healer's show up." Mr. Winters stated. "Wait for the other Squadrons, they're not far behind you. After they're all there, start setting up the bombs. Once they're set, they can't be unset and you'll have fifteen minutes to get out of the base."

"Thank you for your help, Mr. Winters. We wouldn't have gotten anywhere near as far in the mission without you," Anna said in a genuine voice. "You've been a great help, and I'll always be thankful for that."

"I'm just doing my job to keep you all safe, but thank you Anna." Mr. Winters said with a smile on his face. "I'd check in with the other Squadrons to see where they are, it may be awhile before everyone is there."

The line then went dead as Gemma's father radioed to the other groups. Anna looked around at the rest of the group members, who were all looking back at her with expectant looks on their faces. "It's going to be awhile before everyone else gets here, so we can just relax for now," the brunette told them. "We'll switch off who is on watch, for now Gemma and I will take it."

The two girls went and stood by the huge hole in the wall that they had drilled. "Have you heard from Britt or Josh's squadrons lately? It's been almost three hours." Gemma asked.

Anna shook her head. "I haven't heard from either of them, and the last time I heard of their groups, they hadn't made it inside the base yet. I'm sure they're doing fine though."

"Do you think you could check in on their groups? Sam is in Britt's and I want to know if she's okay. The same goes for Josh." Gemma asked, biting her lip nervously.

"Yeah, of course," Anna said, taking out her radio. "Britt, are you there?" The brunette asked. She waited a few seconds, frowning when she didn't get a response. "Brittany? Do you read me?"

Brittany and her Squad were just getting past a couple of guards and were past their entrance. She heard Anna calling in on the radio, so she picked it up. "Hey Anna, what's up? Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm alright. Me and my group just got to the center of the base. Where are you guys?" Anna asked, relieved when she heard her girlfriend's voice over the radio.

"We've passed the entrance and have about a half mile to go before we reach the center." Brittany mentioned. "Is everyone okay in your group besides you? Sam wants to know."

"Yeah, we're all safe. We took down all the guards we came across with nobody getting hurt. How's everyone in your group?" Anna said through the radio.

"We're good, no deaths or injuries so far." Brittany said, holding a gun up as she continued to walk down the hallway.

"That's good to hear. It seems like you guys are pretty busy, so I'll get off the radio now. I love you, and make sure you stay safe," Anna said.

"I love you too," Britt said before getting off the radio.

"It seems like everything is okay, Sam is with Britt and they're making progress." Anna mentioned. "I'll call Josh now if you want me to." She said, turning to Gemma.

Gemma smiled back at Anna. "Thank you. I just want to know if he's safe. I mean, he probably is. I just can't help but worry."

"No, I get you. I've been wanting to radio Brittany every minute just to make sure nothing's happened to her." Anna said, nodding her head before radioing Josh. "Squadron Six to Squadron Eight." She said.

A few seconds later, Josh's voice came over the radio. "Squadron Eight's leader here, is there an issue Squadron Six?" He asked.

"No, there isn't. We just wanted to check in and make sure everything was going well for you guys." Anna said to her brother. "We just made it to the base, how's everything on your Squadron, big bro?"

"Everything's going well over here. We made it inside the base around ten minutes ago and we haven't encountered any guards inside yet, but I'm sure that will change," Josh replied with a chuckle.

"Gemma wanted me to check in on you," Anna said with a smile. "I'll let you talk to her a moment." Anna added before handing the radio to Gemma.

Gemma took the radio from Anna, a smile spreading across her face. "Hey Josh," she said in a soft voice.

"Hey, babe." Josh said as he kept his guard up and watched for any Healers. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm alright. How are you? You're not hurt, are you?" Gemma asked with a worried tone of voice.

"No, I'm good." Josh said, smiling softly at her tone of voice. "We're not too far from the center, we only have like a quarter of a mile from the entrance to the center from our starting point. So it won't be long before we're the center, hopefully." He stated, pausing for a moment, as he heard footsteps from around the corner. "Hey babe, I gotta go for a little bit. I love you alright? I'll see you in a bit."

"Okay. Stay safe, Josh. I love you too," Gemma said before the line went dead. She handed the radio back to Anna after their conversation ended. "He said that he's alright and that his group will be here in a little."

"That's good to hear, I hate not being able to protect him or Britt. I wish they were here with us, in this Squadron instead of somewhere I can't keep them safe." Anna said, sighing as she got the radio back from Gemma.

"Me too. Not having Josh here with me makes me worry a little bit more, because I don't always know where he is or if he's safe," Gemma said, sighing as well.

"I wanted to ask you, is Sam alright?" Anna asked, reloading her gun as they waited. "She's just seemed unhappy lately."

Gemma paused, not sure how to answer Anna's question. "Well, I'd be lying if I said I didn't notice anything change in her. I have noticed that she hasn't been as happy lately. I'm not sure why though," she replied.

"Oh, all I know is she doesn't really respond to me when I talk to her. And I don't know if I did anything to make her upset." Anna said, scratching her head. "Has she mentioned me at all? Or Britt?"

Gemma bit her lip and looked away from Anna. "Well, uh," she started, once again not sure how to answer Anna's question. "Yes, she has mentioned you and Brittany."

"What has she said?" Anna asked, cocking the gun in case any Healers showed up. "I won't be upset."

"I don't know if she'd be okay with me telling you that. I think if you want to know, you should talk to her yourself," Gemma replied.

At first the brunette was reluctant to nod, but she knew that Gemma was probably right in this situation. "Yeah, okay. I'll try and talk to her."

Then a sound came from one of the other walls, and Anna held her gun up just to be on guard. She then saw the wall break open and Josh's squadron came climbing through the hole in the wall that they had created.

Gemma smiled when she saw Josh come through the wall and she ran over to him, throwing her arms around him and hugging him tightly. "I missed you so much."

"I'm just happy that you're okay." Josh said as he hugged her back, wrapping his arms around her waist and holding her close to him.

"Me too. I'm so happy that you're okay," Gemma said, pulling away from the hug after a few minutes so she could kiss Josh.

Anna watched on as they hugged, but gave her brother and Gemma some privacy when they kissed. She began to tap her foot anxiously as she waited for Britt's squadron to get there. She needed to know if her girlfriend and her mom and dad were okay.

One of the other squadrons arrived a couple minutes later, but Brittany, Joan, and James still weren't there. As time went on, Anna began getting more and more nervous. The brunette started pacing back and forth around the room, taking deep breaths to calm herself down.

Josh could tell the long wait was getting to Anna, so he walked over and gave her a hug. "They're going to be here soon, sis. Don't stress yourself out too much." He said in a calm tone.

"I know. I just need to see them again, you know? They're all probably fine and kicking ass right now, but having them here will reassure me," Anna replied with a soft sigh.

"You know, I think mom and dad will be very proud to see you kept everyone in your group alive so far." Josh said, trying to cheer Anna up. "I haven't been so lucky."

Anna raised an eyebrow at her brother in confusion. "What do you mean? I thought you said that everyone in your group was fine?"

"They were when you radioed me," Josh said with with a sigh. "But as soon as we stopped talking, two of my men were taken out by a mine in the building.

Anna put her hand on Josh's shoulder. "I'm sorry, Josh. I'm sure you did everything that you could. Sometimes these things are out of our control, and we can't do much to stop them, no matter how much we want to."

"I know, that's war unfortunately." Josh said shrugging his shoulders. "I just can't help but imagine what will happen when their families find out."

"Well, the families will be upset, and they have every right to be. But they'll be able to take comfort in the fact that those two men died as heroes," Anna said, trying to reassure her brother.

"Yeah, I know." Josh said nodding his head. "But don't you go dying on me, little sis. I don't know what I'd do if that happened."

Anna chuckled and shook her head. "Don't worry about me, big brother. I'm not going to die anytime soon. I almost did once, and I never want that to happen again."

"Good," Josh said.

More squadrons started coming in as time went on, but Brittany's still hadn't shown up. Anna just sat down and closed her eyes, praying that Britt and her parents were alright. It had been almost three hours and Anna was beginning to worry even more as the minutes went on.

Anna walked back over to Josh, who was talking with Gemma. "Sorry to interrupt, but have you heard from Britt or Mom and Dad? I haven't heard from them in hours and I'm really starting to get worried."

"I haven't heard from them, Anna. I'm sorry." Josh said placing a hand on her shoulder her. "Have you tried to radio them?"

The brunette nodded and looked down. "I've tried radioing all three of them, but they're not answering. I don't know what to do, Josh." The brunette started to tear up a little. "What if they're-"

"They're alive Anna, you just need to have a little faith." Josh said. "I know it's hard right now, but they probably just got held up. They're going to be alright."

"How do you know that? We won't know that until they get back here, and they haven't been in contact for hours. So please, tell me how you know that they're gonna be okay," Anna said, tears welling up in her eyes.

"Maybe something is up with their radio, don't get overly stressed. This mission is supposed take multiple days." Josh said, hugging Anna.

Just then, the wall next to them began to drill through. Anna looked over when she heard the drilling, and she walked towards the wall, hoping that it would be either Brittany or her parents that would come through. "Please be them, please be them," the brunette murmured to herself, tapping her foot on the floor anxiously.

About five minutes later, the wall fell down and a bunch of smoke popped up as the ruins it the ground. Anna waited, taking a deep breath.

Brittany then appeared, with a couple cuts and bruises but nothing serious. She had sweat and dirt on her face. The girl had been fighting hard, that much was easy to tell. Joan, James, Sam, and the rest of squadron walked through the hole. Brittany coughed and blew the dust out of her face to see Anna walking fast towards her.

Anna reached Brittany moments later and wrapped her arms around the blonde's waist, never wanting to let her go. "I was so scared when you weren't answering your radio. I thought I had lost you."

The blonde instantly hugged Anna back, keeping a tight grip on her girlfriend. "My radio was broken, I'm sorry. Some big group of Healers ambushed us and we were fighting them for a long while. And then our route was longer than we thought. I'm sorry I scared you." She whispered.

Anna held onto Brittany tightly, resting her chin on the blonde's shoulder. She pulled away from the embrace and then leaned in again, this time connecting their lips in a short but sweet kiss. "I'm glad you're okay," she murmured.

"I'm happy that you're alright." Brittany smiled and and then kissed Anna again softly, but a little longer than the last one.

Anna smiled into the second kiss, sighing with relief. After that kiss ended, she turned to her parents and hugged them. "And I'm glad that you two are okay as well," she said with a smile.

"We're happy you're alright darling." James said, hugging his daughter. "That girlfriend of yours is a true fighter. We wouldn't be here if it weren't for her."

Anna smiled and looked back at Brittany, who was talking to Josh. "Yeah, she's a very strong person. Definitely one of the strongest people I've ever met," she said, turning back to her father.

Sam walked over to her sister. "Hey sis," she said. There were a couple cuts on her arms a bruise on her face, but other than that she was okay.

Gemma smiled and hugged her sister. "Did you get hurt badly?" She asked with a concerned look on her face.

"Nah, nothing bad. Just a couple scrapes and bruises." Sam said as they pulled back from the hug. "You're okay, right?"

Gemma nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine. Because of Anna, nobody in our group got hurt," she said to her younger sister.

"I'm happy you're okay." Sam said smiling.

"Anna actually wanted to talk to you. You should go see her." Gemma mentioned, hugging her sister one more time.

Sam had a confused look on her face. "She wants to talk to me? Why would she want to talk to me?"

"She's noticed that you're not yourself, and she wanted to talk to you and see if you two were on good terms." Gemma said, patting her sister on the shoulder. "Go talk to her, she's coming over here anyways."

Just like Gemma had said, Anna was walking over towards them. "Hey guys, how's it going over here?" The brunette said with a friendly wave.

"We're alright, you?" Sam asked, smiling a small smile back at Anna when the girl walked over.

"I'm alright too," Anna said with a smile. "Hey Sam, could I actually talk to you for a second if you don't mind?"

"Uhhh, yeah I guess so." Sam said, walking over with Anna to a corner. "What's up?" She asked.

"I've noticed that you haven't really been yourself lately. You seem preoccupied with something. Is everything okay?" Anna asked her.

"I-I," Sam started. "I've been better, it just hasn't been easy recovering from the explosion awhile back, that's all really." Sam said, knowing what she said was only part of the truth.

Anna could tell that wasn't the full answer, but she figured that Sam would tell her more when she was ready. "Alright. But if there's more, you can always tell me, okay?"

Before the brunette turned to walk away Sam stopped her with words. "I can see why you love Britt," she started. "For awhile I didn't see what you saw in her that you couldn't see in someone like me. She's strong, smart, and beautiful, everything anyone should ever want. I'm not, and that's why you don't see me in the way I see you."

"How do you see me?" Anna said, raising an eyebrow.

"W-what?" Sam said, not expecting Anna's response.

The brunette just looked at her expectantly. "How do you see me, Sam?" Anna asked again.

"I-I see you how you see Brittany," Sam said in a shy tone. "And I know that it's hopeless for you to feel that way about me because you and Brittany are so happy and perfect together, but I can't help but feel the way I feel about you."

Anna nodded, expecting this response from Sam. "I figured that you'd say that. I don't know how I can help you, though. Like you said, I'm happy with Brittany. I know that you hurt when you see us together, and I'm sorry about that, but there's nothing I can do."

"I know that Anna, okay? I get it." Sam said with a bit of shortness in her voice, wiping a couple tears from her eyes before looking back at Anna. "And I know your life hasn't been easy, but at least you have someone who looks at you the way Britt does. I'm alone, and I have to see the girl I like be happy with someone else. It sucks because not only do I have to watch that, I have to hide my feelings away. I don't have anyone like you have Britt, and at a time like this, it fucking sucks." Sam rambled before sniffling and walking away from Anna.

Anna sighed and ran her fingers through her hair before she walked back to Brittany and Josh. "Hey guys," the brunette said, smiling and putting her arm around the blonde's waist.

"Hey, is everything okay? I saw you talking to Sam." Britt asked, raising her eyebrows as she waited for the brunette to answer.

"Yeah, everything's fine. I've just noticed that she's seemed a little off lately, so I asked her about it. That's all," Anna replied.

"Well?" Britt asked. "What did she say? Is she alright? She was kicking some Healer ass back there." She stated, linking her hand with Anna's.

"She said that recovering from her injury has been pretty hard on her, and I can understand that. It was hard for me when I was recovering from getting shot in the leg," Anna said, squeezing Brittany's hand gently.

"Ahh," Brittany said, nodding her head. "I honestly thought she was going to tell you she loves you or something." She said with a chuckle.

Anna bit down on her lip and looked away for a moment. "Actually, she did mention something about that as well…" she trailed off, waiting for her girlfriend's reaction.

"Wait, are you being serious?" Britt asked. "I'm not mad or anything, I'm just curious. Did she actually say that?"

Anna nodded. "Yeah, she did. I told her that I couldn't do anything that would help her situation, and she walked away after that."

"Sis, I hate to but in, but that probably hurt her more." Josh mentioned with a shrug of his shoulders.

"Well, what the hell was I supposed to say Josh?" Anna said, holding her hands up in defense. "I shouldn't give her hope that she could be with me when there is none."

"I don't know, maybe you could have worded it a different way," Josh said with a shrug of the shoulders.

"Probably it would've been best if you had said something other and 'I can't do anything to help.'" Brittany mentioned, biting her lip. "Because you can help her, you can help her get over you and maybe help her find someone who likes her."

"But how am I supposed to do that? Saying that I can help her find someone else is one thing, but actually doing it is another," Anna said, running her fingers through her hair.

"So then you help her find someone." Josh suggested.

"And how would I do that?" Anna asked, crossing her arms.

"Anna, you can't honestly believe that you, Sam and I are the only three lesbian or bisexual girls at the base, can you? There are at least two thousand people there, and every one in ten people are LGBT." Brittany said with Josh nodding in agreement. "Surely there's a girl who would be good for Sam."

"I never said that there wasn't going to be someone out there for Sam," Anna pointed out. "I just don't understand why I have to be the one to do all this. Am I supposed to go up to every person here and ask them if they're single?"

"You don't have to do that," Josh said chuckling.

"You just have to help her believe that there's someone out there for her besides you." Brittany stated, laughing along with Josh. "Everyone has a person, maybe if you help her believe that she can find love from someone else."

"I just don't know how I'll be able to do that. It's been months since I first told her that I didn't return her feelings, and she still loves me," Anna said.

"Anna, different people heal in different ways. Maybe if you tell her that she's gonna find someone, she'll believe it." Josh said, emphasizing the 'you' as he did so.

Just then, the final squadron made it inside the center and Terry called them all together. "I just want to take a moment and thank you all for your hard work today. You all fought like warriors, and this mission wouldn't have been successful without you," Terry said, getting some cheers and applause. "We did have some casualties and we will forever remember those men as heroes slain in the line of duty." Instead of cheering, there was a moment of silence after Terry said these words. "However, we cannot mourn now. We must continue with our mission. I'd like to ask the group leaders to come up here so we can discuss our next move."

Britt, Anna, Josh, Terry and four others came in while everyone else dispersed across the room. "We're behind enemy lines, good job folks." Terry said. "But this is where the tricky part comes in. We have to find the gas they used to heat this place. If we can find them we can set the bombs and get out of here."

"Alright, that seems somewhat simple. Do we have any idea of where that would be?" Anna asked her aunt.

"Look for a door that says 'gas room.' We just have to find some sort of source for the heating system." Terry mentioned. "If we can get our bombs on some of the gas tanks, we can increase the amount of damage to the base."

The group leaders nodded and then went to look for the door to the gas room, getting some of their group members to help. Anna and Gemma walked towards the far side of the room and began looking for the door. "Maybe we could radio your dad and ask him where the door is if we can't find it," Anna suggested.

"Good idea, why don't you radio him now?" Gemma said nodding her head in agreement.

Anna took the radio out of her pocket and called Gemma's father. "Anna to base, we're trying to find the door to the gas room. Can you tell us where it is?"

"Yes, do you see that generator in the center of the room?" He said, and all of them looked towards the center.

"Yeah we see it," Anna said.

"There is a secret door around there somewhere that will lead to the gas room. Go and look for it while I figure out how to disable it and get it open for you guys." Mr. Winters said before the line went dead.

Anna and Gemma walked towards the generator and began looking for the secret door. "Do we have any idea of what this door will look like?" Anna asked the other girl.

Gemma shook her head. "No, but maybe we just look for veins along the wall. We'll have to feel all around it and push against it. There has to be a door somewhere."

Anna ran her fingers along the smooth surface of the wall, stopping when she felt a rough part. She pushed with her hand, hearing a few gears click together. "Hey Gemma, I think I might've found something," she called out.

"Guys," Gemma called to the leaders. "Anna may have found the door."

Britt and the others walked over to Gemma and Anna. "Let's hope this is the entrance." Terry mentioned as they stood there.

Anna continued to push, seeing an outline slowly take shape in the wall. A few moments later, the door finally opened, and Anna stood there for a few seconds before turning back to the others. "Well, I guess we might as well see what's in here," the brunette said before turning around and walking into the dark room, followed by everyone else.

 **Let's hope everything works out for the rebels, let us know what you thought of the chapter and what you think is going to happen next.**

 **Until Next Time!**


	30. Chapter 29: Let's Blow This Place Up

Chapter 29: Let's Blow This Place Up

Anna held a flashlight up as she lead everyone through the dark hallway in a dim lit room. She saw a bunch of control panels faded in the dark, and she took her flashlight to be able to see it. "I think we found the source of the power to this whole base, Terry." She mentioned, pointing to all the controls with her flashlight.

"It appears so. This is even better than finding the gas tanks," Terry said as she looked at all the different control panels. "We could take out the entire base just by planting our bombs in this room."

"But we have to start them all at the same time, giving everyone an equal amount of time to get out." Brittany said. "We can't risk losing more people just because a couple of bombs aren't set up."

"I agree. Once everyone sets up their bomb, we each start our timers and get the hell out of here. There may be reinforcements from the Healers coming soon and we want to avoid that as much as possible." Anna stated, looking around the big room they were in.

Terry nodded in agreement with them. "Let's not set the bombs just yet. I want to have a look around and see what's in here. Who knows, there might even be some information somewhere in here that could be useful to us."

"Alright, everyone split up and search the room for anything that may be of value to us." Anna said, everyone else nodding agreement before they began looking around the the room.

Brittany opened the doors to a file cabinet in the corner of the room and found a bunch of boxes inside. She took out one of the boxes and opened it, seeing folders filled with papers. "Hey guys, I think I might've found something!" She called out, opening one of the folders and starting to flip through the pages inside.

"What is it?" Anna asked, walking over to her girlfriend to take a look at the files she had found.

"It looks like some sort of health files." Gemma mentioned as she walked up as well.

"Health files? Why would they need to keep that kind of stuff?" Anna said, taking one of the other folders and starting to look through the pages.

"Well, Heinrick doesn't want weak soldiers defending him and his dynasty." Josh mentioned.

"That's true, but these are just health files for the soldiers." Britt said. "Look at this," she pulled out a piece of paper and showed it to everyone around her. "He's brainwashing victims and turning them to his side."

"That's not new knowledge, though. We've had our suspicions that he used brainwashing as one of his techniques, and we got confirmation on our suspicions when he brainwashed Anna," Terry said.

"But this says he's using them to put into his armies." Brittany mentioned. "He wouldn't be doing this if the number of his Healer soldiers weren't dropping." She stated, showing the file to Terry. "Don't you get what this could mean? He's losing numbers, he has to be. Otherwise he wouldn't just take random people and brainwash them into being one of his soldiers."

Terry took the file from Brittany and began looking through it, slowly piecing together what Brittany was saying. "So this means that Heinrick is weaker than we thought. This could be a huge breakthrough!" Terry said, a smile spreading across her face. "Continue searching through these files and keep anything that has to do with the soldiers' health."

"So this is means a couple of things, he's losing recruits and he's growing weaker." Anna mentioned, looking at the files Britt had found. "No wonder he had to travel, he needs all the ammunition he could get."

"And if we found that out just by looking at a couple files, imagine all the other things we can find out from this stuff," Brittany said as she opened another box of folders.

"We can take him down, Britt." Anna said smiling. "We can win, and we can end this whole war."

Brittany put down the folder she was looking at and smiled back at Anna. "Yeah, we can. We can finally win," she said, her smile growing wider as she said those words.

"I'd kiss you right now but we're on a tight schedule." Anna said smiling before squeezing Britt's hand and searching for more information.

"Well I expect you to give me that kiss once we're not on a tight schedule," Brittany replied with a chuckle before she too went back to looking through the files.

"Oh don't worry, you'll get the best kiss of your life when we're out of here." Anna said with a wink before they looked for more info. After about fifteen minutes, Anna figured they should set up the bombs. "Terry, I think it's time. We have loads of intel to bring back to the base anyways."

Terry took one last look around the room before nodding her head. "You're right. Let's pack up all the files that we're taking with us and let the others know about what's going to happen before we plant the bombs."

Anna put the info she had grabbed into her bag before Terry called them back to the front of the room. "Alright everyone, this is where things get tricky." Terry stated. "Once we set off our bombs, we have to turn on the timer in sync. This will give everyone an equal chance to get out of here. And remember, once these bombs are activated, then there's no deactivating them."

"So once the timer is turned on, we all have to get out of here?" Someone called out.

"Yes, we will evacuate the base once the timers are set off. Are there any other questions?" Terry asked the group. When no one raised their hand, Terry continued. "Let's do what we came here to do, godspeed." She said before sending everyone to their places.

Anna, Brittany and the other group leaders grabbed the bombs and went back inside the gas room to plant the bombs. "Where do you think we should put them?" Anna asked once they were back inside the room.

"On the machines pumping the gas," Terry stated. "That will cause the biggest explosion." She mentioned while they each began to split up to their own corners.

They planted the bombs on the gas tanks and then waited for Terry's signal to start the timer. "Once we start the timers, we will have a few minutes to get out of the base before the bombs go off. We need to set off the timers at the same time. Is everyone clear?" Terry said.

Everyone nodded their head, and Anna looked over at Britt. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes to keep herself calm. She then opened her eyes and mouthed "I love you," over to Brittany.

Brittany smiled back at Anna. "I love you too," she mouthed back, blowing a kiss to her girlfriend as well. They then took out the timers, waiting as Terry started to count down.

"Set them off in 3, 2, 1. Now!"

Everyone set the timers and then everyone made their way out of the center room. "Everyone needs to clear out, the bombs have fifteen minutes before they are set off. We need to leave now!" Terry called out. "Get in your groups and go!"

Nobody wasted any time in following Terry's orders, and everyone quickly got in their groups so they could evacuate. Anna made sure that everyone in her group was there before they turned to leave the way that they came in, climbing through the hole they had drilled in the wall and running down the hallway.

Anna and her group made it out and ran back to the car, getting a safe distance away from the base as the rest of the groups seemed to do. Anna looked out of the back window of the car as they drove away from the base, trying to see if Britt's group had gotten out yet. Unfortunately, the car got too far from the base for Anna to see Britt's group make it out, and the brunette bit down on her lip as she prayed her girlfriend would be okay.

Brittany and her group had run into some Healers near the exit, and they were currently fighting them off with two and a half minutes to go before the bombs went off and the base would fall to the ground. "Sam, take them and get out!" Britt called. "I can hold them while people get out, I'll be out behind you! Now go!"

"Brittany, we're not going to leave you!" Sam yelled back as she fought a Healer. "No one gets left behind!"

"Sam, take them now! That's an order!" Brittany called back, slicing a man's stomach.

Sam knew that there wasn't time to waste arguing with Brittany, so she reluctantly did as she was told and ran with the rest of Brittany's group towards the car while Brittany fended off the remaining Healers.

Brittany felt the ground begin to shake, and she knew the bomb was about to go off. She did her best fighting off the Healers, fighting at least five of them at once. She winced in pain a knife slice down her forearm, cutting it wide open. She also felt a bone snap in her foot She knew that she probably wasn't going to make it of there now, but that didn't stop her from fighting as hard as she could. Finally when she had beaten all of them, she began to limp, going as fast as she could to get out of there.

Once Sam spotted her, she got out of the car and ran to Brittany. "Shit, they got you bad." Sam said, rushing her to the car. "Drive! Now!" She called once they got into the car.

The other cars had met up at the rendezvous point and were waiting for Brittany's group to get there. Anna was pacing back and forth nervously, running her fingers through her hair. Moments later, she looked up when she heard the sound of a vehicle approaching them, and the brunette breathed a sigh of relief when she realized her girlfriend's group had finally arrived. She started to walk towards the car as the group members began getting out.

Brittany had lost a lot of her blood from the sword wound, and she had passed out on the way to meet everyone else. Sam had wrapped her leg to slow the bleeding, and had put a oxygen mask on her face so the girl could breathe. Once they got back to the camp, Sam got her out of the van, still unconscious before calling out to everyone. "Snow is down, she needs medical attention fast!"

Anna stopped when she saw Brittany lying unconscious on the ground. The brunette stood there in shock for a few moments before snapping out of her daze and rushing over to the blonde's side, kneeling down beside her. "What happened? Oh my god, this is bad," Anna said, pressing down on Brittany's arm wound to slow the bleeding.

"Some Healers showed up near our entrance while we were on our way out." Sam mentioned as Terry handed her a splint for the girl's broken foot. "She told us to go on while she fought off the rest, I tried to tell her that we could stay and fight but she ordered us to head out to the car." She stated, wrapping the splint so it would stay.

"Do you know how much blood that Britt has lost?" Terry said, keeping Britt's head stable in case the girl had any injuries on her head.

"The tracker in the truck said she'd lost fifty percent, it was a really bad cut." Sam stated, "We need to stop the bleeding and stitch up fast before she bleeds out."

"Does anyone have a medical kit?" Anna called out to the other groups. "If so, please bring it over here quickly! We need to stitch up a wound before too much blood is lost!"

Lucas brought a med kit over immediately, handing it to Anna. He then held Britt's arm steady for Terry to numb the arm's nerves while she stitched up the large cut on Britt's arm.

"I need Anna to hold Brittany's head just in case she has any injuries, and I need Sam to make sure the splint is keeping her foot secure and unmoving so it doesn't hurt her leg anymore." Terry said as she put the shot of numbness in Brittany's arm.

Anna did as her aunt told her to, cradling the blonde's head in her hands while the others worked on treating her injuries. The brunette leaned forward and gently kissed her girlfriend's forehead. "It's gonna be okay baby," she whispered softly. "You're gonna be okay."

Terry began to stitch her arm up, carefully navigating her way up the girls arm, keeping incredible focus. Sam had her leg stabilized and Lucas held Britt's arm up for Terry as the woman continued to stitch up Brittany's arm. "Talk to her Anna, it may not feel like it, but she might hear you. Keep giving her motivation to wake up."

Anna nodded her head and then looked down at Brittany. "You did such a good job today, babe. I'm so proud of you," she whispered, leaning down and kissing the blonde's forehead a second time. "You're so brave, the bravest person I've ever met." She added, trying not to cry in front of everyone.

It took Terry about twenty minutes before she had finished stitching up Brittany's arm. She wiped off any excess blood. "That should hold until we get back to base. Anna, you're going to drive her back with Sam and Lucas. She needs more attention, from people who are better at medical care that me. It's going to be a long drive, over eight hundred miles, but you need to get her back there as soon as possible."

Anna and Lucas carried Brittany back over to the car and laid her down across the seats, Anna sitting down next to her. Lucas then got in the driver's seat, Sam sitting across from him in the passenger's seat. "Alright, let's get this show on the road. We need to get back to the base as soon as possible. Let me know when you need a break and I'll take over for you, Lucas," Anna said.

Lucas nodded and started the car, instantly driving off back towards base. Anna looked back and saw the heaps of smoke rising from where they had just been at the base. "It worked, we blew up their base. Just wait till Heinrick sees this." Sam said as they drove off at around one hundred and fifty miles per hour along the road.

Anna watched the smoke ascend into the sky for a few moments and then turned her attention back to Brittany, who was still unconscious. She took one of her girlfriend's hands in her own and squeezed it softly before bringing it up and kissing it. "Do you think she's going to be okay?" Anna asked, still looking down at the blonde.

"I'm hoping so," Sam said, not really making eye contact with Anna as she kept an eye on Britt's foot, making sure the splint was staying. "She's tough, so I think she's going to make it through. You just can't be too sure."

Anna nodded, tucking a few pieces of blonde hair behind Brittany's ear. "She's a fighter, that's for sure. I know that she's not going to give up easily. I just wish she didn't get hurt. I hate seeing her get hurt."

"Well, I know for sure that I probably wouldn't have been brave enough to tell my troops to leave me behind if it meant they got out safely. Brittany is amazingly brave and strong, that I do know." Sam said as she continued to check on Brittany as well.

"I have a feeling that she's going to pull through. She has to," Anna said, linking her fingers with Brittany's as she gazed down at her girlfriend.

"Hey, what I said back there, about seeing you two together?" Sam said, gulping back a knot in her throat. "It does hurt to see you two together sometimes, but you two are perfect for each other."

Anna's gaze went up from Brittany to Sam. "I'm sorry for what I said earlier today. Telling you that I couldn't do anything to help you was a little harsh, and I hope you can forgive me for that."

"Well, you weren't wrong." Sam stated. "I told you how I felt and you don't feel the same way." She said, looking down and wiping some of the sweat from her face. "There isn't anything you can do about that."

"I do want to help you though, Sam. You're a great person, and I want to help you find another great person for you to be with," Anna replied.

"That's nice of you to say." Sam said, smiling for a moment. "But it's not that simple, finding the person I'm supposed to be with isn't an easy thing to do."

"It's not easy, but it's worth it once you find that person. I'm going to do whatever I can to help you find your person, because everyone deserves to be happy," Anna said, smiling softly.

"Again, that's nice of you. I just don't see myself finding anyone, I'm not as pretty as you or Brittany or Gemma or Dale. And I'm not as interesting as someone like Skylar or Josh or Meleike." Sam said, shrugging her shoulders. "Besides, there are way more important things for you to do besides help me with my love life."

"Well, just know that if you ever want or need my help, I'm here for you," Anna told her. "I really do want to help you, Sam, but I'll only help you if you want me to."

Sam nodded her head to acknowledge Anna before checking Britt's pulse. "Shit, can this car go any faster Lucas?" She asked.

"Yeah, why?" Lucas said.

"Britt's pulse is dropping." Sam said, setting the oxygen mask at a higher level to give Brittany more at a time.

As soon as Sam said that, Lucas pressed down harder on the gas pedal, and the car began going even faster. Anna held Brittany's head in her hands, making sure that the blonde's head didn't move too much whenever they hit a bump in the road. "Come on, babe. We're going to get back to the base soon. Just hold on until then."

"The fastest this thing can go is 215, that should get us there in a little under four hours." Lucas mentioned, pressing the gas pedal down to the floor.

"Just keep going and don't slow down." Sam said, keeping an eye on Britt's pulse rate.

"How do we know if she's getting enough oxygen?" Anna asked Sam.

"Color will start come back to her skin because oxygenated blood will flow throughout her body." Sam said, continuing to eye the pulse rate.

"Britt, please stay with me." Anna whispered, leaning down so hers and Britt's foreheads were against each others. She closed her eyes and took deep breaths. "Please, hold on. I can't lose you, you're the one thing in my life that I'm sure I got right." She whispered. "Please, stay with me."

Lucas glanced back for a brief second, a small smile spreading across his face as he watched the scene unfold. "She's going to make it, Anna. She loves you more than anything and she's not going to leave you without putting up a fight."

Anna heard Lucas speak, but she never opened her eyes to look at him. All she wanted was for Britt to wake up, for her to be alright. "Britt, if you can hear me-" she started in a whisper. "Just know I'm here, and I love you. And I need you to be okay because I don't know what I'd do if I lost you. Just please, if you can hear me, squeeze my hand." She said, relinking their fingers together.

Anna sat there, waiting to feel a squeeze from Brittany's hand but not feeling anything. The brunette took deep breaths to calm herself, hoping and praying that the blonde would give her some sort of sign that she was alright. The brunette was about ready to give up when she felt the slightest twitch of one of her girlfriend's fingers. "Britt?" She asked, gently squeezing her hand.

The unconscious girl had heard everything her girlfriend was saying and she had been trying to give her some sort of sign that she was in fact hearing her. So when she could finally muster the strength to move her finger just enough to brush against the palm of Anna's hand, that's what she did.

Anna blinked a couple times, not sure if Brittany actually moved her finger or if she was imagining things. "Britt, if you can hear me, try to move your finger again," the brunette said, still holding her hand.

Britt tried to do so again, but she was too weak to do so no matter how hard she tried. Sam noticed Anna's face drop at this and then she looked over at Lucas. "How much farther?"

"Four hundred and twelve miles according to the GPS." Lucas mentioned. "I'm going as fast as the car can go."

"Just get us there as soon as possible. She's holding on, but just barely," Sam said, her voice getting quieter towards the end of that sentence. The young girl looked down at Britt. "Come on, Snow. Don't you quit on us, I know you've got it in you."

Anna just held Brittany, trying to keep the tears from falling. "Brittany, I love you. I love you so much. Just know that." She said. The minutes began to feel like hours and the hours dragged on and on and on as they got closer and closer to the base.

"We should be getting there in a little under an hour," Lucas said to Anna and Sam after a couple hours passed. "I'm going as fast as this car will go. If you know of any shortcuts that would get us there faster, feel free to let me know."

"Lucas," Sam called out once she thought of an idea.

"Yeah?" He called back.

"Once you see the sign for Thundercloud Road, take it." Sam ordered, keeping Britt's leg stable. "That should cut the time back to base by about thirty minutes and we don't have any time to waste."

About ten minutes later, Lucas saw the sign that Sam had described to him and turned onto that road, his foot all the way on the gas pedal. "Okay, do I just keep going straight from here?" He asked.

"Yeah, keep following it from there and it should cut our time in half." Sam stated, noticing how worried Anna was.

Lucas nodded and continued driving down the road, occasionally glancing back at his younger sister. He too was worried about her, but he didn't show it as he knew that would put more stress and worry on Anna.

After a long thirty minutes, they had the base in sight and Lucas radioed them. "Open the door to garage and bring a gurney, we have an injured soldier in need of urgent medical attention!"

"Roger that, the door is open for you." A voice replied before letting them inside the base.

Once they got inside the base, Lucas helped Anna and Sam get Brittany out of the car and lay her down on the gurney that had been brought to them. The medics took over as soon as the blonde was on the gurney and rushed her to the infirmary, leaving Anna, Lucas, and Sam watching as she was wheeled away.

Anna let the tears begin to fall and then she wrapped her arms around Lucas for comfort. "She has to be okay, she has to. I don't know what I'll do if I lose her."

"You're not going to lose her," Lucas said, rubbing circles into the brunette's back as tears began falling down her face. "She's strong, and she's going to fight like hell to survive. You've got to believe that," he added.

"I'm going to radio Terry, and tell her we got back to base." Sam said, placing a hand on Anna's shoulder before looking into the girls eyes. "Britt is going to be alright, I know it. Don't lose faith." She stated before smiling softly and walking over to radio everyone else.

"Do you really think she's going to make it?" Anna asked Lucas, wiping her tears away and sniffling a little.

"My sister has always been a fighter." Lucas said genuinely. "But she took a big hit with that wound in her arm, and she lost a lot of blood on the way over. I really want to believe that she's going to make it, but right now it doesn't look good. Still, you have to keep hope like Sam said." He stated, still holding Anna in his arms. "Because she has less of a chance of living if we lose all hope."

Anna nodded and closed her eyes, taking a few deep breaths to calm herself down. "You're right. It's just hard to keep up my hope right now, but I'm going to try. I know that she would do the same for me if it was the other way around."

"Once they have her stabilized, you should go visit her." Lucas said. "Being by her side is going to help her chances. See if she moves her finger again like she did in the car."

Anna nodded her head in agreement. "How long do you think it will take for them to have her stabilized? I want to be able to see her as soon as possible," the brunette said.

"Well, since Terry stitched her up and we kept her on oxygen, hopefully not too long." Lucas stated before taking a deep breath. "Just go get some rest, it's been a rough few days."

Anna went to her room, collapsing on her bed from exhaustion as soon as she walked inside. She closed her eyes and tried to fall asleep, but found that she was unable to do so. The brunette couldn't stop thinking about Brittany and whether or not she would be okay.

Sam meanwhile was radioing Terry. "We made it back to base, Britt's pulse dropped and she lost a little more blood. Hopefully she's going to be okay, we have her in the infirmary."

"I'm glad that you guys were able to get to the base relatively quickly. Could you keep giving me updates on her condition?" Terry asked Sam.

"Yeah, I will. Lucas and Anna went to get some rest, I'll get back to you about Brittany's condition in a little while." Sam stated before taking a deep breath. "Over and out."

Lucas decided to go down to the infirmary to get an update on Brittany's condition before heading to his own room to rest. He walked through the double-doors leading to the infirmary and pulled aside one of the nurses. "Hi, I was wondering if you could tell me how my sister is doing? Her name's Brittany Snow and she was just brought in." He said.

The nurse nodded and lead Lucas down the hallway to Brittany's room. "We used some donated blood that matched hers, and shot it into her. She hopefully will take it successfully and start recovering." She said.

"Do you have any idea when she'll wake up?" Lucas asked as the nurse lead him down the hallway to Brittany's room.

"Hopefully within the next few days." The nurse said. "She's very strong, but it's going to take awhile before she recovers fully if she does in fact recover."

Lucas nodded, stopping outside the door that lead to his sister's room. "Thank you for everything that you're doing to help her. Your work is much appreciated," he said genuinely.

"Just let us know if you need anything from us." The nurse said before leaving Lucas with his sister.

Lucas nodded and then opened the door, walking inside the room. When he saw his sister lying on the hospital bed, tears began to well up in his eyes. Lucas sat down in a chair beside the bed and held his head in his hands. "I'm sorry that I couldn't protect you," he whispered softly, trying to keep the tears from falling.

Brittany could hear everything that was going on, and she hated not being able to comfort her brother as she heard the sound of sniffles and cries. She wanted to speak, or to move. Just something to let her brother know she was alright.

Lucas wiped away his tears and sniffled a little, looking back at his sister. "You were so good out there today, sis. I'm so proud of you," he said, taking Brittany's hand. He hoped that she would give him some sort of sign that she could hear him, but he knew that wasn't likely. "I don't know if you can hear me, but if you can, I want you to know that I'm not gonna give up on you. I don't care how long it takes for you to get better. I'm not gonna give up on you."

Hearing this made Brittany want to wake up even more, and she hated not being able to tell Lucas she was okay. All she wanted was to open her eyes and tell Lucas not to worry.

Later that week, when everyone had returned, Britt was still in her coma. But now, all of her friends had come to visit her in the hospital. Right now, it was Anna, Ester, Josh and Gemma.

Anna was sitting in the chair next to Brittany's bed, holding one of her girlfriend's hands in her own. The brunette squeezed her hand gently and then linked their fingers together. "I love you so much, Britt. Please wake up for me. I'll wait however long I have to. I just need to know that you're gonna wake up."

Josh hated seeing his sister so upset, he wanted to hold her and tell her Brittany was going to pull through. But he knew there wasn't anything that he could say at the moment that would make Anna believe him. Right now, the only thing that would get Anna to believe again would be Brittany waking up or giving her some sort of sign that she would wake up like squeezing her hand or moving her fingers.

Anna brought Brittany's hand up and kissed it softly, a couple tears falling down her cheeks. "I can't lose you, Britt. You're the best thing that's ever happened to me. Please, just hang on for me. I don't know what I'll do without you," the brunette whispered, tears welling up in her eyes again.

Josh got up and walked into the hall, Gemma noticing this and following after him. "Is everything alright?" She asked, knowing that was probably the most obvious question to ask. "Don't answer that, I already know the answer."

"Anna doesn't deserve this. Brittany doesn't deserve this. Neither of them deserve this, so I don't understand why this happened," Josh said, sighing and running his fingers through his hair. He leaned against the wall and closed his eyes. "I just hate seeing Anna in pain like this, and what makes it worse is that I can't do anything to help her."

Gemma just wrapped her arms around him and hugged him close to her as he rested his forehead on her shoulder. "You just have to be there for her, believe me. At a time like this, Anna needs her family." She said before pulling back from the hug and looking into his eyes. "And you know her better than anyone, so just stay with her, she needs her older brother."

Josh nodded and opened his eyes, a small smile spreading across his face when he looked down at Gemma. "You're right. I just hate the feeling of not being able to help her, you know? I mean, I know that being there for her will help her a lot. I just wish that there was something more that I could do," he said.

"I know," Gemma whispered nodding her head and linking her hands with his. "Just go back in there, okay? She needs you, and I have to go train." She said before giving him a sweet kiss. "I love you," she murmured, running her hand along the back of his neck before turning to walk to the training room.

Josh smiled to himself as he watched his girlfriend walk away, then went back inside the hospital room. He pulled over a chair and sat down next to Anna, putting his hand on his younger sister's shoulder. "If you want to talk to me, I'm here for you," he said in a gentle voice.

"Thank you," Anna said, not lifting her head from the side of Britt's bed. "I'm just not really in the mood to talk."

Just then an announcement came onto the intercom. "Anna Kendrick, please report to the main office. Repeat, Anna Kendrick, please report to the main office."

"Really?" Anna groaned, not wanting to get up from Britt's side. She reluctantly stood up and looked at Josh. "Stay with her for me, will you?"

Josh nodded. "Of course I'll stay with her. Now you should probably head to the main office. It must be something important if they called you down there," he said to her.

"Yeah, it better be." Anna stated with a frown on her face, not wanting to leave. "I'll be back." She said before walking out of the room and down to Terry's office. "I'm here, what did you want to see me about?" She asked once she got there.

"Anna, hello. Here, take a seat," Terry said with a smile as she sat behind her desk. She continued once the brunette sat down in one of the chairs in front of her desk. "How's Brittany doing?"

"She's fine. She still hasn't woken up yet, but hopefully she will soon. Why did you call me down here?" Anna asked.

"I called you down because we found out that Heinrick was in Africa to recruit more soldiers. It's not good news, because he's using his brainwashing method to get more people to fight for him." Terry mentioned, opening a case a file they had gotten from the main base. "That's why he's been out of the country for so long, he's building a huge army."

Anna nodded as she listened to her aunt speak. "Alright, and what does this have to do with me? It must have something to do with me if you called me down here, right?" She said.

"We need you to be a leader of this base. Brittany right now, can't do much to help us and I need you to step in for her." Terry mentioned, looking straight into her nieces eyes. "I need a leader, and to me you are one. You showed me that during the mission."

Anna nodded, closing her eyes and thinking of what Terry had just said. "What exactly do you need me to do?" The brunette asked, opening her eyes and looking at her aunt.

"After Heinrick finds out about the destruction of the base, it's most likely he will send an attack on our base." Terry mentioned. "I need you to lead our people into battle if it comes to that." She stated firmly. "Do you think you can do that for me?"

Anna paused for a few moments before nodding her head. "I can do that," she said in a confident voice, a small smile spreading across her face.

"Good," Terry said. "I know you will not let me down." She said.

Suddenly they were interrupted by Josh, who was nearly out of breath from running there. "Anna, you have to come to the hospital wing."

"What's going on?" Terry asked.

"It's Brittany," Josh said after catching his breath. "She's beginning to wake up."

 **Let's hope that Britt is okay! Tell us what you thought of the chapter.**

 **Until Next Time!**


	31. Chapter 30: The Road to Recovery

Chapter 30: The Road to Recovery

"What?" Anna asked. She felt as if she was hallucinating that Josh was telling her this. She blinked a couple times before asking again. "What? She's waking up?"

Josh nodded his head. "Yeah, she's waking up. Come on, I'm sure that you're the first person she wants to see when she wakes up," he said, gesturing for his younger sister to follow him.

Anna looked from Josh to Terry, who instantly nodded. "Go ahead, he's right. She'll want to see you more than anyone else."

The young brunette then stood up and followed her brother back to the hospital, running as fast as she could to get back to Brittany. Once they made it back to her room, Anna swung the door open and rushed to Britt's bedside. "Britt?" She said, noticing the girl had begun to stir in her bed and groan a little bit as she woke up. "Brittany? I'm here, I'm here. It's Anna, please wake up for me babe."

The blonde continued to stir for another few minutes before she stopped. She then slowly opened her eyes, squinting a little as they adjusted to the light in the room. Brittany coughed a little bit, and then looked up at Anna. "Hey," she murmured softly, her voice hoarse. "Where am I?"

"We're back at the base babe, you passed out and went into a coma for about a week." Anna said, tearing up as she spoke. "Do you remember what happened to you?"

Brittany shook her head, taking a brief look around the room as she did so. "What happened to me?" The blonde asked, looking back up into Anna's eyes.

"We were on a mission to destroy the Healers base, and your squadron got held up by some soldiers on the way out. Sam said that you fought them off after telling her and everyone else in your group to go ahead." Anna said, feeling a couple tears fall. "You got beat up pretty bad. You have a broken foot and a big wound in your arm from a sword. I-I…" She stopped, trying not to cry. "I thought I was losing you, and it scared the shit out of me that you hadn't woken up for a week."

Tears welled up in Brittany's eyes as she listened to Anna, and she looked down. "I'm sorry that I scared you," the blonde whispered. "I could hear everything you were saying to me. I just couldn't move. I wanted to let you know that I was okay, but I couldn't."

"I failed to protect you Britt, I hated that we weren't in the same squadron because I wouldn't be able to protect you. I should've been there, with you. I could've kept this from happening to you." Anna stated, shaking her head. "You don't deserve this, not at all. I could've been there to keep you from harm-"

"I chose to stay back and fight those Healers, Anna. I chose to risk my life. This isn't your fault, and I don't want you convincing yourself that it is. This is on me. I made my decision, and now I have to face the consequences of that decision. But please, don't think that this is your fault," Brittany said, taking Anna's hand in hers and squeezing it gently.

Anna looked down at their hands linked together. "I can't help but feel that way Britt. I almost lost you, and my group could've gone with yours. There weren't any orders to which door we had to escape from, I was just too stupid to think of that. You are the one thing that I know I got right, Britt. If I lose you, or almost lose you like I did this week, I'm going to find some way to blame myself. Because I love you more than anything in this God forsaken world, Britt. I really do."

Brittany squeezed Anna's hand and then leaned up, connecting their lips in a soft kiss. "I know I might not be able to convince you, but this really isn't your fault," the blonde murmured as their lips parted. "And I love you more than anything in this world too, Anna," she added.

Lucas then rushed into the room and tears fell down his cheeks when he saw that his little sister had woken up. "Thank God," he said before rushing over to her bedside and hugging her gently.

Brittany smiled, hugging her brother back for a few moments before pulling away from the embrace. "It looks like you missed me," the blonde said with a little chuckle.

"I'm just glad that you're awake and on the road to recovery." Lucas said, sighing with content. "You had me really worried, sis."

"I heard you talking to me too. I tried so hard to move my hand and let you know that I was okay, but I just couldn't do it. I'm sorry that I scared you," Brittany said, looking down again.

"Don't be sorry," Lucas said, hugging his sister again. "I'm just happy that you're going to be alright." He whispered.

"You and me both," Anna said, smiling genuinely for the first time in a really long time.

Brittany smiled and sighed with happiness. "I know that it's going to take a while for me to fully recover, but having you guys with me is going to help a lot."

"You're the strongest person I know, sis." Lucas smiled at his his little sister. "I know that you'll recover and come back stronger than ever before."

"He's right. If anyone can come back from this, it's you. I believe in you, babe," Anna said, smiling at Brittany as well.

"Thank you," Britt said before pulling Anna in for another soft kiss and then giving her brother one more hug.

Meanwhile, Josh went to the training room and smiled when he saw Gemma training in the boxing ring with her sister. He started taping up his hands while watching them fight, smiling as Gemma landed a few punches. "Way to go, babe!" Josh called out, making Gemma look over at him and smile.

Sam looked over and smiled at Josh for a moment. "How's Brittany?" She asked.

"She actually just woke up," Josh stated as he made his way over to the boxing ring.

"She did?" Sam asked, not sure if she had heard Josh correctly. "That's great. I'm assuming that Anna and Lucas are with her right now?"

"Yeah, they are. I figure they all deserved to just have some time to themselves." Josh mentioned before getting to the boxing ring.

"That's really good to hear, I gotta go shower." Sam said before exiting the ring. "I'll see you guys later." She stated.

"Hey," Josh said, smiling at Gemma.

"Hey," Gemma repeated back to him, smiling and biting her lip a little. "I'm glad that Brittany finally woke up. You must feel relieved now that Anna's happy again."

"I am," Josh said smiling and hopping up to the boxing ring. "You can't believe how relieved I was to see Britt wake up, because Anna's face lit up instantly." He said, sighing with content. He walked over to her and put on some punching target gloves so Gemma could continue.

Gemma started to throw punches at Josh's target gloves, landing each punch that she threw. "And I'm sure that Brittany's glad to finally be awake as well. It just hasn't been the same this past week with her in a coma."

"Yeah, she definitely was. Apparently she could hear everything that was going on around her." Josh mentioned, moving his gloves around for her to throw different punches.

"Really? That must have been really hard on her. Being able to hear what people were saying but not being able to move," Gemma said, pausing to catch her breath before she started throwing punches again.

"Yeah." Josh smiled at her as she threw hard hits. "You're really strong, babe, my hands are starting to hurt." He said with a chuckle.

These words made Gemma smirk at her boyfriend. "Well if your hands are starting to hurt, then I should probably stop for now," she said, throwing a few more punches before pausing to catch her breath again.

Josh took off his gloves and walked over to Gemma, cupping her cheeks and kissing her. "I want to celebrate a successful mission with you tonight."

Gemma smiled into the kiss, only pulling away when she needed to catch her breath. "That sounds like fun. What should we do for this celebration?" She asked him.

"I figured I could grab us some champagne, and we could go stargazing on the roof of the base." Josh mentioned, wrapping his arms around her waist. "Does that sound good to you?"

"That sounds perfect," Gemma said with a smile, leaning her head on Josh's shoulder. "I can't imagine anything that sounds better than spending a romantic evening under the stars with you."

"Awesome," Josh said before sighing happily and leaning his forehead to hers. "You have no idea how happy I am that you made it out okay." He whispered.

"I can say the exact same thing about you. I don't know what I would've done if you hadn't made it out okay," Gemma whispered back, her arms around Josh's neck.

"I love you so much." Josh whispered with a smiled before kissing her softly, lingering there for awhile before pulling back just a little.

Gemma smiled and looked up into Josh's eyes. "I love you too, Josh. I'm so lucky to have you in my life," she murmured, leaning in and connecting their lips again.

"I'm gonna go check on Anna, I'll see you tonight okay?" He said smiling once their lips parted.

"Okay, I'll see you then," Gemma said, leaning in and pecking Josh's lips one last time before he left to go see Anna, Brittany and Lucas.

Skylar and Dale were in the mess hall getting some lunch. "Britt woke up, Dale. We should probably go see her after lunch." He said smiling when he walked up to her.

"Yeah, we should do that. I can't believe that she's been in a coma for only a week. It's felt like forever," Dale said as she put some food onto her plate.

"I know, it's insane. I'm just glad that she woke up." Skylar said as he grabbed a salad and some chicken.

"Me too. It's been different not having her around. I'm glad that she's back. We've all definitely missed her," Dale said, grabbing some silverware and a napkin before she started walking towards one of the tables.

"Oh for sure, she's a member of our little family." Skylar said smiling before kissing her cheek.

Dale smiled and blushed a little when Skylar kissed her cheek. "You're the best boyfriend ever, you know that, right?"

"How come?" Skylar asked with a smile on his face from Dale's words.

"What do you mean, 'how come?' You're the nicest guy I've ever known, Sky. You're always there for me when I need you, and I know I can always count on you to protect me when we're on a mission. I don't know what I'd do without you," Dale replied, smiling back at her boyfriend.

This made Skylar blush and smile as Dale said those words. "Thank you babe, that was really very sweet of you to say."

"And I wouldn't have said it if it wasn't true," Dale said, leaning in and kissing Skylar on the lips.

"Well, you are the best girlfriend in the world." He said smiling as she kissed him, hoping those words would result in him getting another kiss from Dale.

Dale smiled and broke the kiss to catch her breath, only to lean in and connect their lips again. "Thank you for loving me," she murmured against Skylar's lips.

"I wouldn't love anyone else." Sky whispered, kissing her cheek. "I love you so much baby."

"And I love you so much too," Dale murmured back, smiling and leaning their foreheads together. "You make me so happy, Skylar. I hope that I do the same for you."

"Of course you do baby." Skylar said smiling.

Later that night, Josh grabbed a bottle of champagne and waited for Gemma to show up for them to go up on the roof of the base. He was twiddling his fingers as he waited for her in the main hangar, and when he saw her, Josh could swear his jaw dropped to the floor. "Woah," he murmured.

Gemma was wearing a black dress with a matching pair of black flats. She smiled when she spotted Josh, and she began to walk over towards him. "Hey," she said shyly, looking down and blushing a little.

"You look, incredible." Josh stated, smiling at her as she walked over.

"Thanks. You don't look too bad yourself," Gemma replied, leaning in and giving Josh a sweet kiss on the lips once she reached him.

"I don't have many nice clothes, so my dad let me borrow his old date blazer, dress pants and shoes that he always wore with my mom when they first started dating." Josh said smiling once their lips parted.

"Well I think that you always look handsome, regardless of the clothes that you're wearing," Gemma said with a smile, her arms around Josh's neck.

"And I think you're beautiful no matter what clothes you're wearing. Especially no clothes at all," Josh said smiling and kissing her cheek. "I'm going to make this the best night of our lives." He stated before kissing her lips.

"And I'm going to try to do the same for you," Gemma said, smiling into the kiss. She took Josh's hand in hers and linked their fingers. "Well, shall we?"

"Yes, we shall." Josh said before they walked up the flights of stairs before Josh popped open a hatch and they were on the roof.

Gemma smiled when they reached the roof and she looked up at the sky, gasping a little as she did so. "Wow, look at how many stars are up there. I don't know if I've ever seen this many before."

"It's pretty amazing." Josh said smiling and kissing her cheek. "I'm glad you're up here with me."

"I'm glad I'm up here too. This is just so beautiful," Gemma said, looking from the stars to Josh with a wide smile on her face.

"You have no idea how happy I am that you're alright after that mission." Josh said, popping the champagne and pouring it into a glass for her.

Gemma took the glass from him and waited to take a sip until he poured himself a glass of champagne. "I'm so happy that you're okay. Not being in your group was hard because I was constantly worrying about you."

"Same, I was worrying about you, and Anna, and my parents. I'm just happy the people I care about are alright." Josh said sipping his drink before kissing her cheek. "Especially you," he said sweetly.

Gemma smiled at Josh's words and blushed a little. "Thank you for bringing me up here tonight," she said softly, looking into her boyfriend's eyes.

"We haven't really had time for just the two of us in awhile," Josh stated looking down at her hands and linking them with his own. "I just wanted to be alone with you tonight, and do this without anyone cheering or whistling." He said before leaning in and catching Gemma's lips in a sweet kiss.

Gemma leaned into the kiss, smiling as their lips moved in sync. She only pulled away when she needed to catch her breath, and she bit her lip softly. "That was really nice," she whispered, leaning their foreheads together.

"Your kisses are always wonderful," Josh said before leaning back in and kissing Gemma again after taking a sip of champagne. He placed his hands on her hips and smiled into her eyes when he pulled back.

Gemma sighed happily and closed her eyes for a few moments, then reopened her eyes and gazed up at Josh. "I love you so much," she murmured, holding his gaze as a small smile spread across her face.

"I love you more," Josh whispered before looking up at the millions of stars hanging in the moonlit sky above them. "You ever wonder if there's more life up there?" He wondered aloud.

Gemma looked at him and raised her eyebrow curiously. "What do you mean as in 'more life?'" she asked.

"Like, I like to wonder if there is more life outside of this world." Josh said, looking from the stars to Gemma. "I don't know, it's a silly thought."

"It's not a silly thought," Gemma said, putting a hand on Josh's shoulder. "And wondering about that kind of stuff is perfectly okay. I mean, I don't know if we'll ever find out if there's life outside of this world, but that doesn't mean you can't think about it."

"What is something you want to know once all of this is over?" Josh asked, smiling at her.

Gemma shrugged her shoulders. "I don't really know. I've always been interested in animals, so maybe that's something I'd look into after the war's over. Before this all started, my parents would take Sam and me to the zoo all the time. We'd stay there for hours just because I wanted to look at every single animal that was there," Gemma said with a smile as she recalled the memory.

"That's a really beautiful story," Josh said smiling at his girlfriend. "Did you have a favorite animal exhibit to go to?" He asked.

"I loved seeing all the exhibits, but I'd have to say that my favorite was always the elephant exhibit. I'm not sure why, I just loved going to see them and I was so happy when I got to see them," Gemma replied.

"You're so loveable." Josh said smiling at her. "Maybe one day I'll take you to Africa and we can find some elephants." He said smiling and kissing her hands.

"And maybe one day I'll build a spaceship so we can go see if there's life outside of this world," Gemma said with a cute giggle.

"I think there is more of a chance of us finding elephants," Josh chuckled before looking into her eyes. "But that's really sweet of you to say."

"Let's make a deal. If you take me to Africa to see some elephants, then I'll try my best to find some evidence that there's life outside of this world. Yeah, it's not very realistic that we'll be able to get a spaceship and go find the answer for ourselves, but there's got to be books or something else that could help us," Gemma said, smiling at Josh.

Josh smiled and laughed a little at Gemma before kissing her softly on the lips. "You're the most amazing person, that I've ever met."

"Really?" Gemma asked. "Surely there are other people that are more amazing than I am."

"Not to me," Josh said smiling gently and genuinely at Gemma. "To me, you are the most amazing person in the world, and I love you so much."

"I love you too, Josh. I always will love you," Gemma replied, smiling back at him.

Josh then kissed her again, this time a little more deep than the last. He held her close to him and ran his hands up and down against her sides softly.

Gemma sighed happily as their lips connected again, her arms around Josh's neck. She leaned into the kiss, closing her eyes and smiling. "Mmm, I'm never going to get sick of kissing you, that's for sure."

"I know I won't get sick of it either." Josh said, resting his hands on her waist. "What do you say we go inside and finish this champagne? It's starting to get cold out."

"That sounds good to me," Gemma said, leaning in and kissing Josh on the lips one more time.

Josh then took her hand in his and they walked down to her room which was closer to the main hangar. "You look incredible tonight."

"Thank you," Gemma said with a smile, looking down and blushing at Josh's compliment. "It means a lot to hear you say that."

"Well it's the truth." Josh said holding the door open for her. "I'm a very lucky guy."

"And I'm a very lucky girl to have someone like you as my boyfriend," Gemma replied, smiling and walking inside of her room.

Josh closed the door behind them and then took her hand in his. "Seriously though," he said turning her to face him and tucking some hair away from her face. "I never thought that I'd ever feel this way about someone. You've changed the world for me, Gemma. I never thought I'd find someone, but when I saw you for the first time…" Josh trailed off for a moment gazing into Gemma's beautiful brown eyes, "I'd never seen anything, or anyone, that was more incredible than you."

Gemma's face got even redder when Josh said that, and she smiled wider as well. She didn't say anything in response, instead leaning in and connecting their lips in a sweet kiss. "You mean the world to me, Josh Kendrick. I want to spend the rest of my life with you."

"I like the sound of that," Josh whispered, holding her close and kissing her back. He then pulled back a little so he could look into her eyes.

Gemma returned Josh's loving gaze, her arms around his neck. "I really mean it, Josh. You're the one for me. I don't want to spend the rest of my life with anyone else," she said genuinely.

"And you won't have to." Josh said sweetly before picking her up and carrying her to the bed, laying her down softly before giving her a sweet kiss.

Gemma pulled Josh down with her, giggling a little as she did so. "Good, because I'm not gonna let you spend the rest of your life with anyone but me," she said, leaning in and kissing him.

Josh smiled and then chuckled a little bit at Gemma's adorable laugh after she kissed him on the lips. He then pulled her on top of him and the kissing recommenced. Josh placed his hands on Gemma's waist and he couldn't help but sigh with content.

Gemma sighed happily as well, cupping Josh's face in her hands. "I love you so much," she mumbled against his lips, only pulling away from the kiss when she needed to catch her breath.

"I love you too," he said before sitting up and taking off his jacket with Gemma's help. He then dropped it to the floor and pulled Gemma further onto his lap, deepening the kiss significantly.

Gemma's tongue made its way into Josh's mouth and began fighting with his for dominance. "Mmm, I love getting to kiss you," she hummed with a smile.

"I love getting to kiss you all over, and show you how much you mean to me." Josh murmured, using his tongue against Gemma's in a friendly battle. His chest slowly began to heave. He then moved his lips to Gemma's neck.

Gemma let out a soft moan when Josh's lips went to her neck, and she turned her head to the side to give him better access. "That feels nice, babe," she murmured, closing her eyes and sighing with content.

"You're so beautiful," Josh muttered against her skin while his hands ran down the length of her back and then down her thighs to where the dress cut off. His hands then pushed the bottom of the dress up slowly while his lips continued to mark up Gemma's skin. A soft moan escaped his lips when she ran her fingers through his hair as he left a long but wonderful trail of kisses all over her upper body.

Another moan escaped Gemma's lips as Josh continued to leave soft kisses all over her skin. "God, how are you so good at this?" She muttered under her breath, tugging at the ends of Josh's hair.

"You like that?" Josh whispered as he reached back up, pulling the dress over Gemma's head and kissing her lips as he threw it to the side, leaving the girl in a fancy bra and underwear. Josh's eyes nearly popped out of his head at the site. "Holy shit," he muttered before kissing down her neck and laying her down against the bed with his hand behind her head as it hit the soft pillow. He then let her start unbuttoning his dress shirt as he re-attached their lips in a heated kiss.

While they kissed, Gemma began to unbutton Josh's shirt. She briefly glanced down at his abs, a smirk appearing on her face. "I see that someone's been working out lately," she murmured against his lips.

"I have to look good for you, don't I?" Josh whispered, smiling and leaning down to kiss Gemma's lips roughly as she continued to loosen the buttons on his shirt.

Once Gemma finished unbuttoning Josh's shirt, she took it off and let it fall to the floor. Her hands ran up and down his back, her fingernails digging into his skin. "You mean so much to me, baby," she murmured softly.

"And you mean the world to me," Josh whispered with a big smile on her face. "I love you more than anything babe." He said smiling and kissing her neck.

"I'm so lucky that you're mine. I don't know what I'd do without you," Gemma whispered back, smiling and sighing happily while Josh kissed her neck.

"I wanna make love to you." Josh muttered, moving his lips to the other side of her neck. "I want to show you just how much I love you." He whispered, kissing her softly.

"Show me then," Gemma murmured back, kissing Josh back with passion. "I need you so badly babe," she moaned.

Josh took the rest of her clothes off with ease and smirked when the girl whimpered at his hand reaching up her leg. "I love you," he moaned softly. "So damn much." He said as she unbuckled his jeans and pulled them off of his legs.

Gemma bit down on her lip to keep herself quiet. "J-Josh," she whimpered as her boyfriend ran his hand up and down her inner thigh. "Please don't tease me too much."

The young twenty-seven year old kissed his girlfriend on her lips and then moved his free hand to her back to pull her up and take off her bra before throwing it to the floor. His lips then attached to her chest as one hand played with the other. His other hand ran up Gemma's leg and then he slowly began to toy with you core. "You like that?"

Gemma just nodded her head, a soft moan falling from her lips. She ran her fingers through Josh's hair and tugged on the ends of it. "Fuck, Josh," she whispered, bucking her hips towards his fingers.

"You're going to be screaming my name tonight," he whispered before kissing her neck, slipping a finger inside of her. "Let me feel you moan." He said as he kissed the front of her neck and sucked a hickey into her collarbone.

Gemma then cupped Josh's face in her hands and kissed him roughly, moaning against his lips. "You're so good at this, baby. So so good."

"You're so damn beautiful," Josh whispered before kissing her again. He then took off his boxers and smiled at her. "I love you." He said before kissing her again.

"I love you too Josh," Gemma whispered back, feeling her walls begin to clench up as Josh added another finger. Josh's fingers began to thrust a little faster and faster, smirking as they made the girl underneath him squirm and moan with pleasure.

"You close?" He whispered in her ear.

"I'm so close," Gemma moaned back to her boyfriend, no longer trying to keep quiet. "Keep going, I'm almost there."

Josh smiled and kissed her neck before sucking a hickey into her skin. "Mmmm, you're so damn beautiful." He whispered.

Gemma moaned, closing her eyes and turning her head so that Josh could have better access to her neck. "Shit, that feels good," she murmured.

"Fuck," Josh muttered, Gemma's whimpers and moans were turning him on, a lot. "You close baby?" He whispered, thrusting his fingers smooth and fast.

As soon as Josh said those words, Gemma hit her climax, letting out a long moan as she did so. "Oh my god," she groaned, whimpering as Josh's fingers continued to thrust into her while she came down from her high.

The young man leaned down and kissed her lips softly, smiling at Gemma as he did so. "You're so perfect," he murmured against Gemma's lips before he lined himself up with her.

Gemma stopped Josh before he entered her. "Wait. Did you bring protection with you?" She asked him.

Josh groaned, he hadn't remembered. The man was too caught up in sneaking the champagne out that he forgot to grab condoms. "No, I forgot." He said closing his eyes in embarrassment. "I'm sorry." He said sitting up.

"It's okay," Gemma said, smiling sympathetically at him and taking his hand in hers. "You don't have to be embarrassed about it."

"I know, know, I just knew how much we were looking forward to tonight and they should've been on my list of things to remember." Josh said covering his lower body with blankets. He looked down for a moment before looking into Gemma's eyes. "I love you," he said while squeezing her hand.

"I love you too," Gemma whispered back, leaning in and connecting their lips in a soft kiss. When she pulled away, Gemma looked into Josh's eyes and bit down on her lip a little.

Josh opened his eyes once the kiss was over and noticed Gemma's action. "What is it?" He asked, looking at her with a soft smile on his face.

"Oh nothing," Gemma said, shaking her head. "It's just, you look really good right now. That's all," she added, the smile on her face turning into a smirk.

"Oh yeah?" Josh whispered with a smile on his face before leaning in and kissing her cheek. "Is it rare that I look this good?" He asked chuckling at his girlfriend.

"It's not rare that you look good. I just think that you look really good right now," Gemma replied, blushing a little when Josh kissed her cheek.

The young man pulled her onto his lap and kissed her lips. "I love you," he whispered. "And you look really good right now too." He said smiling at her once their lips broke apart.

"Thanks," Gemma murmured, smiling and leaning their foreheads together. After a few moments passed, she leaned in and reconnected their lips, this kiss lasting longer than the previous one.

When Gemma leaned in and kissed him again, Josh's hands moved to the back of her body, resting at the dip. His nails softly scratched against Gemma's skin as the kiss became more intense, he felt his breathing begin to pick up.

Gemma cupped Josh's face in her hands as they kissed, only pulling away when she needed to catch her breath. She quickly leaned in and connected their lips again, the tension between them rising once again.

"Mmmm, Gemma." Josh whispered, holding her body close and kissing her deeply, a whimper escaping his lips as the kiss deepened and the woman scooted further up his lap.

Gemma ran her fingers through Josh's hair and gently tugged at the ends of it, their lips moving together in perfect sync. "I love you so much," she mumbled against his lips, sliding her tongue along his bottom lip.

A soft groan came from Josh's lips as Gemma tugged on his hair. He allowed her tongue inside his mouth and smiled. He then lay her down on the bed. "I love you more," he whispered breathily, feeling his pulse rate pick up.

Gemma broke the contact of their lips and looked into Josh's eyes. "I need you," she whispered, her arms around his neck. "I need you, baby."

"I need you too," Josh whispered. "Are you sure you're okay with the fact that I don't have protection?" He muttered, breathing heavily as he looked into her eyes.

Gemma nodded, still gazing into her boyfriend's eyes. She then pulled him down into a passionate kiss. "Make love to me," she murmured against Josh's lips.

Those words spurred Josh on and then he kissed her back, before moving his lips to her neck. There was a mixture of soft and rough kisses, and Josh made sure to leave a few hickeys along her neck and chest. Then, Josh line himself up with Gemma and slowly entered her. "Shit," he moaned.

Gemma too let out a moan as Josh slowly entered her. "Oh my god," she breathed out, her eyes rolling back into her head as he started thrusting into her at a steady pace.

"Mmmmm," Josh moaned, kissing her lips as he began to pleasure her. "Oh yeah, fuck!" He moaned softly.

Gemma's moans got louder and more frequent as Josh increased the pace. "Fuck, Josh! Faster!" She called out, her hands tightly gripping onto the sheets of the bed.

"Look at me, baby." Josh said, gripping one of her hands and pinning it above her head as he continued to thrust. The young man then smashed their lips together and began to thrust faster just like Gemma had wanted him to.

Gemma threw her head back onto the pillows of the bed, moaning against Josh's lips as they kissed. "How close are you?" She asked, her chest heaving as she struggled to catch her breath.

The young man kissed Gemma again and moaned as he continued to thrust. "I've still got awhile left in me babe." He moaned moving his lips to her neck. "Do you… want to…. get on top?" He moaned, slowing his thrusting down a little before moving his lips to Gemma's neck.

Gemma nodded her head. "Yeah, I'd really like that baby," she said, turning her head to the side so Josh had better access to her neck.

Josh then flipped them over so she was on top and then moaned as she began to ride him. "Fuck," he moaned, grabbing her hips and watching her as she rode him perfectly.

Gemma leaned forward and kissed Josh roughly while she continued to ride him. "You like that, baby?" She asked when she heard him let out another moan.

Josh nodded his head softly, looking up at Gemma as she took complete control. "Shit, Gemma!" He groaned, digging his nails into her skin.

This response caused Gemma to smirk, and she broke the kiss, instead moving her lips to Josh's neck. "I'm going to take that as a yes then," she whispered into his ear as she kissed along his jawline.

"Yes," Josh muttered as her watched their bodies move in sync. His hands moved to her bum which he began to knead softly as she bounced on him.

Gemma let out a moan when she felt Josh squeeze her bum. She continued to bounce on him, starting to go a little faster than before. "Mmm, I love you so much," Gemma murmured, moving her lips back to Josh's.

"I love you too," Josh mumbled against Gemma's lips before sitting up and attaching his lips to her collarbone.

This sudden move by Josh caught Gemma off-guard a little, and she let out a little gasp when she felt his lips touch her skin. That gasp then turned into a long moan, and she closed her eyes. "That feels great, baby," she murmured.

"You feel so good," Josh whispered with a smirk on his face as he got closer to his climax.

"So do you," Gemma whispered back, feeling her walls begin to clench up as she too got closer to her climax. "How close are you now?" She asked, panting a little as she spoke.

"So close," he whispered. Josh moved his lips to her chest and groaned in pleasure. "Fuck, I'm so close."

"I'm close too," Gemma said, running her hands up and down Josh's back. Her fingernails dug into his skin, and she bit down on her lip to keep from moaning. "I'm getting really really close."

"Shit! Gemma!" He moaned as he hit his climax and let her continue to ride him until she came.

Gemma finally hit her climax moments later, yelling out Josh's name as she did so. Once she came down from her high, she leaned down and kissed Josh's lips softly. "That was incredible," she murmured.

Josh flipped them over and lay her down gently before pressing a soft kiss to her lips. "I love you, so, so much." He whispered against her sweet, soft lips.

"I love you too," Gemma whispered, smiling as their lips parted. She looked up into Josh's eyes, her smile growing wider. "I love you so so much." With his arms still wrapped around her, Josh leaned down and kissed her one more time before laying down next to her.

His arm was still draped over Gemma's waist and he placed a couple kisses on the back of her shoulder with a small smile on his face.

Gemma sighed happily as Josh did this, and she closed her eyes. "What did I ever do to deserve someone like you?" She murmured to herself, a smile on her face.

"I could say the same thing about you," Josh said smiling at the girls comment. "There are moments where I feel I don't deserve you, and when I don't realize how you can love a guy as torn up as me. But I'm so glad that you do." He murmured, kissing the back of her neck and closing his eyes as well. "I don't know what I would do if you didn't."

"You're the best thing that's ever happened to me, Josh. I'm not planning on ever letting you go," Gemma said to him, turning her head a little so she could look at him. "I love you so much, Josh, and I'm always going to love you."

 **There will be more Sendrick in future chapters, but Gemma and Josh have a big part to play in the rest of this story. We hope you enjoyed the chapter!**

 **Until next time!**


	32. Chapter 31: 1 Month Later

Chapter 31: 1 Month Later

Gemma was up early that morning to get in some training before the gym got too crowded. Josh was there with her and so were Anna, Britt, and Sam. They were all trying to see who could do the most pull-ups without stopping. So far, Britt and Josh were the leaders. However, Gemma wasn't far behind, though she didn't feel too well. She didn't let it show though, continuing to do pull-ups as she reached thirty-two.

After Sam finished doing her pull-ups, she looked over and watched her sister, noticing that she looked a little more pale than usual. "Hey Gemma, you feeling alright?" She called out to her.

The truth was, Gemma had constantly been feeling sick. She would have mornings where she couldn't help but throw up, and today was feeling like one of those mornings. "Yeah, I'm good." She said, not wanting to draw too much attention to herself. The young woman was beginning to worry that she might not have the flu, and that it was something entirely different.

Sam didn't buy Gemma's answer, but she decided not to keep asking about it, figuring that her sister would talk to her if and when she wanted to. "Alright, but don't push yourself too hard today, okay?"

"Mhmm," Gemma said before they moved on to boxing.

The two sisters went up against each other and Josh and Britt went against each other with Anna officiating. Anna switched between the two matches, watching Josh and Britt for a couple minutes before going over to watch Sam and Gemma.

"How's it going over here, guys?" Anna asked, standing at the edge of the ring while she watched Sam block a few of Gemma's punches.

It was easy to tell that Gemma was struggling and she wasn't feeling too good. Despite this however, Gemma continued to throw a couple of punches at her sister, and block a few from Sam as well. "It's all good here." She said.

A couple minutes later, the two girls decide to take a break from their boxing match to catch their breath and rehydrate. "Are you sure that you're okay, Gemma?" Sam asked her sister with a concerned voice.

Gemma took a sip of water, trying to not feel dizzy. "Yeah, don't worry about me. I'm fine."

Anna took notice of how pale Gemma looked. "Gemma, you're pale." She said, walking over to the girl. "You don't have a fever." She added once her placed the back of her hand on Gemma's forehead. "But you look like you're about to puke, why don't you sit out for a little bit?"

Gemma opened her mouth to argue but didn't say anything, knowing that Anna was right. "Yeah, I'll sit out for a little while," she said, going and sitting down in one of the chairs by the boxing ring.

"Hey Josh," Anna said, walking over to her older brother. "Have you noticed Gemma hasn't seemed to be feeling well for a couple of days?" She asked, making sure to keep her voice low so it was just Josh who could hear her.

"Yeah, I have noticed that. I asked her about it and she said that she thought she had the flu," Josh replied, his voice also in a low tone so nobody overheard their conversation.

"Okay, just checking." Anna said before she switched places with Gemma and began to box Sam.

Later that day however, after breakfast, Anna found Gemma throwing up in the women's bathroom near the cafeteria. She had gone in there to brush her teeth since it was the closest bathroom to her room. "Gemma?" She asked.

"I'm in here," Gemma called from one of the bathroom stalls.

Anna went over to the stall and found Gemma hunched over the toilet. "Are you sure that you're okay? You might want to go to the infirmary and have them do a check-up if you're still sick."

"Anna, I can't go there." Gemma stated, standing up and leaning against the stall door. "I just can't, alright? If I do, I'm scared of what the results are going to be."

"Why would you be scared? If they find out they can help you." Anna said, leaning against the stall door with Gemma. "That's kind of the whole point of the hospital wing, to help you get better."

"You don't understand, Anna. I just—I just can't go there, okay?" Gemma said, looking down at the floor. "I can't go there."

"Okay, then don't." Anna said, not wanting to push any further because the women seemed stressed. "Is it not because of the flu that you're feeling this way?"

"I just don't really want to talk about it. And it's not you, I just don't really wanna talk about it with anyone," Gemma said, still avoiding eye contact with Anna.

"Not even Sam?" Anna asked, and Gemma nodded. "What about Josh?" She asked.

"No, especially not Josh, that'd be too much pressure on him." Gemma said urgently.

Anna then figured it out, as soon as Gemma told her she wouldn't even tell Josh why she didn't want to go to the hospital. "Gemma, are you scared you might be pregnant?"

Those words caused Gemma to break down into tears. "Please, whatever you do, don't tell Josh!" The girl cried out, sobbing uncontrollably.

"Hey, hey." Anna brought her brother's girlfriend into a hug. "I won't say anything to anyone." She said, holding the girl close. She held Gemma there for awhile, just letting the girl cry. "It's going to be alright, don't worry. But Gemma, it'll be easier if you find out if you are or not. Because if you are, everyone is going to be able to tell at some point. I'll keep it on the down low for you, but the sooner you find out for sure, the better."

Gemma's sobs gradually turned into sniffles, and she wiped away her tears before closing her eyes and taking a deep breath. "I'm just so scared," she admitted with a sigh. "I don't want to find out because I'm scared that I already know what the doctors will say."

"I'll go with you, so you have some support." Anna stated, pulling back from the hug. "But I think it's best if you find out now rather than later. Even if you're not pregnant, it's good to know."

Gemma nodded and stood up. "Thank you for offering to go with me. It means a lot," she said in a soft voice.

"Of course, this is big. I'll be there for her." Anna said before kissing the top of her head. "You're going to be alright, no matter what the results are."

Gemma nodded, smiling softly. She closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths to calm herself before opening her eyes again. "When should we go to get the test done?" She asked.

"Ummm, well I have to go help Brittany train since she's still recovering a little bit from the mission to the base. But what about right after lunch?" Anna suggested. When Gemma nodded, she did as well. "Alright, sounds like a plan. Make sure to hydrate, I'll see you later." Anna said before turning to leave. She stopped right before the door and turned back to Gemma. "You don't have to be afraid, everything is going to be alright. You'll see."

Gemma nodded her head in agreement. "Thanks again for offering to go with me, Anna. It really means a lot to me," she said to the brunette.

"Yeah, of course. I know how much you mean to Josh, and I want him to be happy. And he's beyond happy with you, it's the happiest I've ever seen him actually." Anna said with kind smile on her face. "And as his sister I need to make sure that he's alright, and one good way to ensure that is to make sure that you're alright."

"Do you think…" Gemma said, trailing off and pausing for a moment before finishing her question. "Do you think, if I am pregnant, that Josh will be okay with it?" She asked.

"He'll definitely be surprised." Anna stated, before looking at Gemma once again. "But he's loves you, and he'll love you no matter what. So if you are pregnant, he'll be more than happy and willing to help you along."

Gemma breathed a sigh of relief at Anna's. "Good. It's nice to hear you say that. I was worried that this could drive us apart or something," she admitted.

"Well, when you love someone, you do what you can to make sure that they're happy." Anna said. "And Josh loves you, so he's going to make sure that you're happy and safe."

Gemma nodded. "I just hope that this doesn't put any unnecessary pressure on him. That's the last thing I'd want to do."

"It'll put pressure on him, but it won't be anything that he can't handle." Anna mentioned. "Just don't put too much pressure on yourself, that won't make matters any easier."

"Yeah, I'll try to take it easy from now on. Even if it turns out I'm not pregnant, I'll still take it easy since I've been sick for awhile," Gemma said.

"Sounds good, I'll see you after lunch." Anna stated before leaving the bathroom and heading to another one so Gemma could have some privacy.

Ester was training with Meleike and Skylar and Dale right after breakfast, so they could get their morning training in and over with. Skylar and Melieke were practicing boxing with each other, warming up with the punching bags before they headed over to the ring to practice against each other. "Just a warning, I'm not gonna go easy on you," Skylar said with a chuckle.

"You really think you're going to be able to take me, pretty boy?" Meleike said with a chuckle as he strapped on his boxing gloves.

Skylar just chuckled and rolled his eyes at Meleike's comment. "I wouldn't underestimate me if I were you," he replied, putting on his boxing gloves.

"Let's just see how you do in the first round," Meleike stated before they began to walk towards the ring. "If you can last three rounds against me, then I'll be impressed."

"And I'll be impressed if you can last one round against me," Skylar shot back, smirking and getting in his boxing stance.

"Oh please," Meleike said chuckling. "I just happen to be Muhammad Ali's great grandson." He said blocking a couple of Skylar's punches.

"Well I'm Skylar Astin, so I wouldn't talk trash," Skylar said as he dodged a few of Meleike's punches.

"As far as I'm know, there are no boxers with the last name Astin and there aren't any legendary boxers with that name. So unless you're somehow a descendant of Sugar Ray Robinson or Archie Moore, I can't say that I feel threatened." Meleike said, getting Skylar in his stomach with two quick punches.

Skylar hunched over and took a few deep breaths before regaining his stance. "Well, once this fight is over, I'm pretty sure that you'll remember my name," he said, one of his punches landing on Meleike's jaw.

This made Meleike smile and chuckle before they continued to give each other smack talk. Dale and Ester watched on as they took turns climbing the rope. "We have some competitive boys, don't you think?" Dale said shaking her head and laughing.

"We certainly do," Ester said, laughing along with Dale. She walked forward and took the rope, slowly but steadily beginning to climb.

"How long have you two been together? If you don't mind me asking." Dale said as she watched Ester climb swiftly.

"We've been together for a little over a year now. It's been the best year of my life, even with our world in chaos," Ester replied.

Dale nodded and smiled as she listened to the twenty-nine year old speak about her boyfriend. "You two are very sweet together."

Ester smiled at Dale's words. "Thank you, I can say the same for you and Skylar. You two are perfect for each other."

"He is pretty amazing." Dale said, looking over at her boyfriend. "I love him more than anything."

"And I love Meleike more than anything. He's always there for me when I need him. He's my best friend in the whole world," Ester said with a smile.

"I think it's truly incredible that in the course of this era, when things are so dark, that we were able to find our soulmates," Dale mentioned.

"Yeah, I agree with you. Thinking about it gives me a sense of hope, like things will work out in the end," Ester said.

"Let's hope so," Dale said with a smile.

"Okay Sky, I see you." Meleike said after throwing a few punches that Skylar blocked.

Skylar gained some confidence after Meleike said that, and he dodged another one of his opponent's punches before he threw some punches of his own. Meleike blocked them all, however, so Skylar held his hands up as he prepared to block Meleike's next move.

Meleike stopped for a moment. "You're doing well, just move your feet more. GIve yourself more range of mobility so that you have more chances to hit me. Don't stay in one spot." He said before they pounded knuckles and got back to it.

Skylar took Meleike's advice and found it not only easier to land punches, but easier to dodge them as well. Skylar landed two quick punches to Meleike's stomach and then jumped out of the way before his opponent could hit him back.

"There we go, Astin. You're getting the hang of this." Meleike said smiling before getting Skylar in the stomach three times. "But you're not with me yet," he said after dodging two of Sky's punches.

"I'm not with you yet, but I'll get there soon enough," Skylar said, holding his hands up and blocking another one of Meleike's punches.

"I believe that as well." Meleike said as they continued to throw punches a while longer.

Afterwards, the two couples went towards the cafeteria to get an after workout snack when they saw Anna and Gemma sneaking into the hospital. "What do you think that's about?" Skylar asked.

Dale took a sip of her water bottle and shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know. Maybe they both have doctors appointments or something."

"Gemma has seemed pretty sick lately," Meleike mentioned. "I hope she's alright."

"Yeah, me too." Ester added.

"Well, I'm assuming that the doctors will give her some sort of medicine to help her while she's at the hospital," Skylar said.

"Yeah, let's hope so." Dale said before they continued on to the cafeteria.

Anna sat and waited with Gemma. "It's going to be alright." She said smiling as best she could in this situation.

Gemma nodded, trying to calm herself down by taking deep breaths as they waited. "I know, I just can't help but be nervous," she replied.

"Just keep taking deep breaths. No matter what the results, things will turn out fine." Anna said, taking her brother's girlfriend's hand and giving it a friendly squeeze.

"You're right. I just have to focus on the positive and not on the negative," Gemma said, smiling gratefully at Anna.

"Exactly." Anna said smiling. "But maybe focus on both, because you're either pregnant or not pregnant." She chuckled, trying to cheer Gemma up.

"I just hope that it doesn't take too long to find out. At this point, I just want to know," Gemma replied.

"According to my mom they just have you pee in a cup and then they stick a test strip in it." Anna said.

"Alright, that seems simple enough. I was worried that the test was going to be really complicated or something," Gemma said with a little laugh.

"Nope, apparently before the war they found really easy ways to tell." Anna smiled before the doctor came up to them.

"Hello you two, how can I help you today?" Nurse Nancy said with a smile. She was the head nurse here, and she was in her late thirties. She was a tall, pretty woman with black hair and chocolate skin. "What brings you here, are you two alright?"

Gemma looked over at Anna and then back to the nurse. "Well, Anna's fine, but I've been feeling sick for a couple weeks now, especially over the last few days," she answered.

"And is there any reason as to why you think you've been feeling sick?" Nancy asked as she gestured for Gemma to come back to a room with Anna right behind her.

Gemma hesitated for a few moments before answering Nancy's question. "I think…" she said, trailing off and then taking a deep breath. "...I think that I might be pregnant."

"I see," Nancy added, walking with the other two girls. "There's nothing to worry about, we'll get the tests done soon."

Gemma nodded. "Thanks for scheduling me in on such short notice. I know how busy you guys are here, and it means a lot to me."

"Don't worry, it's no problem. This shouldn't take more than ten minutes." Nancy said with a smile before she took out a cup. "I need you to go into a bathroom and pee into this cup and then come back to me, okay?"

Gemma nodded and took the cup from Nancy and headed for the nearest bathroom. Five minutes later, Gemma returned and gave the cup back to Nancy. "And now I just have to wait?"

"Yes, the test won't take long at all though." Nancy mentioned, taking the cup and setting it on a table before pulling her test strips out. "All I do is stick this test strip in for about ten seconds. If you're pregnant, the test strip will come back pink." She mentioned.

"Okay," Gemma said, watching as Nancy put the test strip in the cup. She closed her eyes, breathing in and out to calm herself while waiting to find out the results. Those ten seconds she waited seemed to go on for minutes instead of seconds. Anna could tell the girl was stressing so she squeezed Gemma's hand.

"Alright Gemma," Nancy said before turning to the two girls. "It looks like you're pregnant." She said. "If you ever need any help, just let me know alright?"

Gemma nodded, still processing what Nancy had said to her. With only five words, her life was changed forever. It took a few minutes for the words to set into her mind. "Wow. I'm pregnant," she said to herself.

Anna rubbed her back soothingly. "How are you doing? Are you okay?" She asked with a genuine look of concern on her face.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I'm just a little shocked, that's all. This is life-changing," Gemma said, closing her eyes for a few moments.

"Take all the time you need to let it sink in, this is a big change and you'll have to make some adjustments." Nancy mentioned in a kind and calm voice. "I'll be here if you have any questions and also you can set appointments throughout to see how the baby is doing."

"Wow," Anna said having a sudden idea set in her head. "I'm gonna be an aunt." She chuckled.

"And I'm gonna be a mother," Gemma said, running her fingers through her hair. "I'm not ready to be a mother. I'm nowhere near ready to be a mother. What am I supposed to do now?"

"Hey, you have so many people who love you. You have me, Britt, Sky, Dale, Ester, Meleike, your parents, my parents, not to mention Josh." Anna said, taking the older woman's hands in her own. "And they're all going to help you get through this, going to be here to help you whenever you need it. It's going to be alright, Gemma. And even if you're not ready to be a mom yet, you're not going to be alone. I can assure you of that."

"I'm just scared, though. I'm scared that I'm going to be a terrible mother. I've never done this before, and I have no idea how to do this," Gemma said, starting to hyperventilate.

"That's how everyone is going to feel the first time around." Anna said. "No one is ever really prepared. It's sort of a learn on the job type of thing, but you can't doubt yourself. That will only make things worse." Anna mentioned, squeezing her hand again.

"Anna is right," Nancy mentioned. "You're going to be alright, you just can't put yourself down over it. Being a mother is tough, but it's going to be worth it because being a mother is one of the most rewarding things."

Gemma nodded, tucking a piece of her hair behind her ear. "I guess I should probably go tell Josh now," she said, looking down at the floor. "I really hope that he'll be okay with this."

"He may be a little bit shocked at first, but he won't be upset. If anything, he'll be thrilled to be a future father with the girl of his dreams." Anna said, giving Gemma one last hug before they thanked Nancy.

"Josh is usually just getting done with his final workout before dinner." Anna said as she and Gemma walked back down the hall. "You have nothing to be afraid of." She said, squeezing Gemma's hand.

"I just hope that he's okay with this. This isn't just going to change my life, it's going to change his life as well," Gemma said as they walked together down the hallway.

"Gemma," Anna said, stopping them for a moment. "Josh will love you no matter what, and he will for the rest of his life. Just have a little faith, it's not like you're a teenager. You guys are twenty-eight years old." She said with a chuckle. "Just, go and talk to him. He won't be upset."

Gemma nodded, staying silent and thinking of what she was going to say as they continued to walk down the hallway. When they reached the training room, Gemma stopped before she opened the door. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath and then opened it, walking inside and instantly seeing Josh. "Hey."

Josh had just finished up with his workout and was wiping his sweat with a small sweat towel when he saw Gemma walk in. "Hey, beautiful. How are you feeling?" He asked, walking over to her and leaning down to kiss her forehead. "You feeling any better?"

"Yeah, I'm feeling a little better," Gemma said, smiling softly when Josh kissed her forehead. "How was your workout?" She asked him.

"Great, I've been working on my abs a little bit more, they're my weakest spot." Josh said with a chuckle.

"I find that hard to believe," Gemma replied, chuckling along with her boyfriend. After a short pause, she spoke again. "There's something kinda important that I need to talk with you about."

"Alright, what is it babe?" Josh asked as pulled on his sweatshirt and got the remaining excess sweat off of his face. He could tell Gemma was nervous, so he pulled her into a hug and kissed to top of her head to calm her down. "What is it, Gemma? You're not dying are you?" His sense of humor always calmed her down a little, but in this case, Gemma couldn't keep her nerves from showing.

"No, I'm not dying. I actually went to the infirmary today for a doctors appointment, and they figured out why I've been sick lately," Gemma said, looking down at the floor. She then looked into Josh's eyes and spoke again. "Josh...I'm pregnant."

At first, Josh thought he'd hallucinated a little bit. But he just looked into Gemma's eyes, and then down at her down, and then back up into her beautiful blue eyes. "You're pregnant?"

"Yeah, I'm pregnant," Gemma repeated back to him, biting down on her lip as she waited for his reaction.

Josh looked down and placed a hand on his girlfriend's stomach. A small but genuine smile spread across his face, and he scoffed a short chuckle. "You're pregnant," he said again, this time with a couple happy tears in his eyes before looking at Gemma and kissing her lips softly.

Gemma sighed with relief and leaned into the kiss, a smile spreading across her face as she did so. "We're gonna be parents, baby," she mumbled against Josh's lips, running her fingers through his hair as they kissed.

"Wow, I don't know what to say." Josh said, pulling back from the kiss, his hand still on her stomach. "You're gonna be a mom." He said, smiling at Gemma lovingly. "I'm gonna be a dad." His eyes were shining bright. He'd never realized that he wanted children before, but hearing this news had made his heart beat with pure happiness. "Thank you," he said before picking her up and spinning her around, making the girl giggle. "Thank you so much." He said with his face buried in her neck as he spun her around.

Gemma continued to giggle as Josh held her up in the air and spun her around. "Why are you thanking me? You're the one who made this happen," Gemma said with a smile as Josh put her back down onto the ground.

"I'm not thanking you for this," Josh stated with a chuckle. "I mean, I am, but I'm thanking you for more than that." He mentioned, smiling at her. "I always thought that I wouldn't get to experience real love, but you came along and changed the course of my world, Gemma. You made me believe in love. And I don't know what I did, or how I got so lucky, but being able to love you and call you mine? It's the reason I get out of bed in the morning, you've become the most important person in my life. And this baby," he said, leaning his forehead against hers. "This baby is just another reason for me to love you. That's why I'm thanking you, because you've changed my world Gemma."

Gemma started to tear up while she listened to Josh speak. "I'm never going to be able to thank you enough for everything you've done for me, Josh. I've been hurt before, and I never thought I was going to find love again, but I did find love and I'm so thankful that I found love with you," she said, leaning their foreheads together. "You're the best thing that's ever happened to me, Josh Kendrick."

"I can say the same about you, Gemma Winters." He said before tucking her hair back and kissing her softly. He then reached down and lifted the hem of Gemma's shirt up, leaning in and kissing her stomach sweetly. "Hey there little guy, or girl. It's your daddy, Josh. I just want you to know that your daddy loves you very much. And I can't wait to meet you." He said before kissing her stomach again and looking up at Gemma with a sweet smile on his face.

Gemma smiled back at Josh and took one of his hands in hers, squeezing it gently. "That was absolutely adorable," she said, leaning in and kissing him again. "I can already tell that you're going to be a great father," she added.

Josh sat down on one of the benches in the training room by the door, pulling Gemma onto his lap. He placed a couple kisses on the back of her shoulder. "And I know you are going to be an amazing mother."

"If I'm going to be honest, I'm really scared to be a mother. But I know that however hard it may be, it will be easier with you by my side," Gemma said, smiling and giggling a little when Josh pulled her onto his lap.

"I'll be there whenever you need me, Gemma." Josh said, looking at his girlfriend happily. "I don't want to miss a thing."

"I know you won't miss a thing," Gemma said, smiling and running her fingers through his hair. She leaned in and kissed his lips softly, lingering there for a few extra moments. Josh held her close and closed his eyes as they kissed, loving every moment of it.

"When can I tell my family?" Josh asked excitedly.

"Well, Anna already knows since she went with me to the infirmary. If you wanted to tell your parents today as well, I'd be fine with that," Gemma said, smiling at Josh's enthusiasm.

"Your parents aren't going to kill me for getting you pregnant, are they?" Josh asked with a nervous chuckle.

Gemma shook her head and chuckled along with her boyfriend. "No, they're not going to kill you. If anything, they'll be glad that you're the father of my child. They know how much you mean to me, and they know that you'll do your best to take care of me."

"And, they'll be happy to have their first grandchild. I know my parents will be happy to hear this news, they absolutely adore you." Josh said, leaning up to kiss Gemma's nose in a cute manner.

"I'm glad that they adore me. It wouldn't be good if they didn't like me," Gemma said with a laugh, cutely scrunching up her nose a little when Josh kissed it.

Josh ran his hand smoothly along Gemma's stomach. "I'm going to talk to our daughter or son every night, it's supposed to make our voices more recognizable to them when they're born." He said smiling in a cute manner. "That's what my mom told me when she was pregnant with Anna, so I would talk to my mom's stomach all the time so that Anna would know what her big brother sounded like." He smiled to himself, thinking of the memory.

"I keep convincing myself that there's nothing more adorable that you could say, but you keep proving me wrong," Gemma said to him with a cute giggle. "I'm really happy that you're so excited for the baby. I was worried that you were going to freak out about it or something."

"Babe, I love you. And while this is going to be a big change in our lives, nothing is ever going to change the fact that I love you." Josh mentioned with a smile.

Gemma smiled at these words. "And nothing will ever change the fact that I love you, Josh. I'm always going to love you. Make sure you remember that," she said.

"I will," Josh said before standing up and grabbing his water bottle. "I'm gonna go shower, I'll see you at dinner, and then maybe we can tell everyone."

"Alright, I'll see you then," Gemma said, giving Josh one last kiss before he left to go shower. She couldn't help but squeal with happiness. She was going to be a mother, and Josh was all on-board for being a father.

Josh smiled as he walked down the hallway towards the showers. He stopped and leaned against the wall, smiling to himself as if he had just won a million dollars. "I'm gonna be a dad." He said, sighing happily before heading to the showers.

Later that night at dinner, Gemma was already sitting at a table with her food when she saw Josh walk into the dining hall. She bit her lip and smiled, waving over to him once they made eye contact. Josh waved back and blew a kiss to her before grabbing his food and sitting down next to her. "How's the beautiful mother of my unborn child?"

"I'm doing pretty great. How is the handsome father of my unborn child?" Gemma asked, smiling when Josh sat down in the chair next to hers.

"He's doing just swell," Josh mentioned, leaning in and kissing her lips gently. "And he's very excited to tell everyone."

"So am I," Gemma said, smiling and leaning into the kiss for a few moments. She took a few bites of her food once their lips parted. "So, who do you want to tell first?"

"Uh, I don't know. Probably our families, and then our close friends." Josh suggested, shrugging his shoulders. "I honestly am okay with anything."

"Me too," Gemma said, resting her hand on top of Josh's. "This is still surreal to me. I can't believe that we're actually going to be parents."

"It's still sinking in for me." Josh mentioned with a smile on his face, bringing Gemma's hand up to his lips and pressing a soft kiss to it.

Gemma blushed at this gesture and couldn't help but smiling. "We're going to be great parents. Sure, we probably won't know what we're doing half the time, but I have a feeling that we'll figure it out."

"I know we will baby, I believe it." Josh said before kissing her lips softly.

Anna walked up and smiled at her brother and his girlfriend. She snuck up and whispered, "Did she tell you?" She asked excitedly.

"Tell me what?" Josh said in a serious voice before laughing. "Yeah, she told me. Words can't describe how happy I am right now."

"See, I told you he'd take it well Gemma." Anna said smiling happily at the girl before turning back to her brother. "And I have to tell you that I'm so excited to be your baby's future aunt."

"I'm glad that you're going to be our baby's aunt. I'm certain that you'll be the best aunt our kid could ever ask for," Gemma said, smiling at Anna.

"You're damn straight I will be," Anna said smiling happily. "Have you guys told anyone else yet?"

"No, we haven't. We're going to start by telling our parents first and then we'll tell our friends," Josh replied.

"Alright, well Mom and Dad are just getting their food." Anna mentioned taking a bite of her mashed potatoes.

Josh looked over at Gemma and smiled at her. "Are you excited to tell everyone the news?" He asked.

"You know, I actually am. At first I was nervous, but I realize there's nothing I should worry about. We're old enough, and we love each other. So I'm not worried." Gemma said before giving Josh a peck on the lips.

"I'm not worried either. We're going to be great parents like you said. There's no doubt in my mind about that," Josh replied, his smile growing wider as their lips parted.

"Hey you three," Joan said smiling as she and James walked up to the table with Gemma's parents, Steve and Barbara Winters.

"Hey, Mom and Dad. Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Winters," Josh said, smiling when the four of them sat down at the table with them.

"How are you guys?" James asked as the four of them sat down with their kids, Sam sitting next to Josh not long after.

"We're doing really well. How are you?" Gemma asked James, smiling and squeezing Josh's hand.

"We're getting by," James answered. He noticed the way Josh was smiling at Gemma. It's not like he hadn't seen the boy smile at her before, but this time was different. "You guys look like you have something to say."

Josh looked at Gemma and the two of them nodded to each other. Josh then turned back to his father. "Actually, we do have something to say. We got some pretty big news this afternoon," he said, looking back over at Gemma.

All four of the parents and Sam as well turned their heads to pay attention to Josh and Gemma. Gemma looked at Josh and smiled when he nodded for her to tell them. She then looked at the people at their table. "I'm pregnant."

There was a moment of silence as everyone at the table processed what they had just been told. Gemma's parents were the first to react, with Barbara beginning to cry tears of joy and Steve clapping his hands excitedly. "Wow! I can't believe it!" They both exclaimed at the same time.

Sam looked at her sister with an expression that seemed mixed with shock and and excitement. "I'm gonna be an aunt?" She said as her eyes lit up.

"You and me both." Anna said smiling widely.

"Josh, is this really happening? You're going to be a father?" Joan said, hope in her eyes.

Josh nodded, unable to keep happy tears from falling down his cheeks. "Yeah, this is really happening. I'm gonna be a dad," he said with a wide smile on his face.

"Oh, wow!" Joan got up and hugged her son. "I'm so happy for you honey, you're going to be amazing parents."

"Were you two trying?" James asked, he was a little on the fence about this whole baby situation. "I mean, you guys haven't even known each other for a year. I know you love each other, but are you really ready to have a baby in a time like this?"

"James-" Joan said, trying to stop him from talking.

"So that's how it's going to be, huh?" Josh said, anger and hurt in his voice. "Instead of congratulating us, you're going to ridicule us? I expected better from you, Dad."

"I'm just saying that this is a big responsibility, and I don't think you're ready for it." James mentioned. "I'm sorry, that's how I feel."

"Are you kidding me?" Josh said. "I can't believe you're saying this, I practically raised Anna! You weren't there so I had to raise her on my own for the last eighteen years!"

"Don't you dare use that against me!" James said, his voice matching the angry tone of his son's. "You know that your mother and I would have been there for you if we could have! And yes, you did raise Anna on your own and I applaud you for that, but she wasn't a baby. You may think that this will be easy, but it's not, and quite frankly I don't think you're ready for this kind of responsibility."

"I'm twenty-nine years old dad, not eighteen." Josh said, looking intensely into his father's eyes. "You and mom were twenty-five when you had me, I'm older than you were." He then stood up and stared James down. "I love Gemma, and I'm going to raise this child with her. I don't need your permission, and I'm not asking for it. I don't care if you think I'm not ready, it's my child not yours." He said, glaring as James stood up to face him eye to eye. "And if you can't support Gemma and I, I don't want you anywhere near her, me, or my child." He said before taking Gemma's hand and leading her away from the table and out of the cafeteria.

James stood there and watched as Josh and Gemma walked away and then sat down, shaking his head. "Did you hear the way that he just talked to me? I don't know who he thinks he is, but he has no right to disrespect his father like that," he said to Joan.

"All he wanted was to hear you'd support him." Anna mentioned, being the first person to make eye contact with James after his and Josh's outburst. "He's excited, but he's scared too. And you said he wasn't ready, how's that supposed to make him feel?" She said, grabbing her tray and standing up.

"Where are you going sweetie?" Joan asked her daughter.

"To be honest, after what I just saw I've lost my appetite." Anna said, looking at her father as she answered her mother before walking away.

Joan watched her daughter walk away and then looked back at James, crossing her arms and shaking her head. "You've got some apologizing to do, James, whether you like it or not."

"You're siding with Josh, after what he said to me? He's not ready for this, Joan. He and Gemma haven't been together for more than seven months." James said, shaking his head. "If anyone is apologizing, it's that deluded son of mine."

"He's not deluded for asking you to respect him. He's a grown man now, James, and you just treated him like a child. Sure, he and Gemma haven't been together long, but that shouldn't matter considering they love each other very much. All Josh wants is for his dad's approval. He looks up to you, James, and your response hurt him," Joan replied.

"I think he made it pretty clear he doesn't need my approval." James said sipping his drink. "I'm not apologizing, I just stated my opinion. He's the one that erupted."

"I can't listen to you make these excuses." Joan said shaking her head and standing up with everyone else. "Enjoy sitting by yourself."

Meanwhile Josh stormed into his room and slammed the door shut before kicking one of the chairs. He saw a picture of him and his father when he was just nine years old. The summer he'd decided he wanted to play baseball. He took one look at it and then picked it up and threw it at the wall before sitting down on the bed, tearing up and crying as he put his head in his hands and screamed to let out his anger.

He then saw the photo, the glass shattered around it. Josh grabbed the photo, but cut himself a little on the piece of glass, wincing in pain as he leaned to sit into a chair by his bed. A few minutes later, there was a knock at the door, and Gemma walked inside the room. "Hey," she said in a gentle voice, starting to walk towards Josh but stopping when she saw pieces of glass on the floor. "What happened here?" She asked.

"Nothing," Josh said, sniffling and putting pressure on the small cut in his hand with one of his old shirts. "Nothing happened." He said, avoiding looking at the photo in his hand.

"Well, obviously something happened if there's glass all over the floor and your hand is bleeding," Gemma said, carefully stepping around the glass and then sitting down beside Josh. "You can talk to me about it if you want to, but you don't have to."

Josh shook his head and wiped a tear from his eye with his thumb. "I didn't think anything would ruin my day after finding out I'm going to be a father, but once again I was proved to be wrong." He said letting down a couple more tears.

Gemma nodded, figuring that the argument with his father was what was upsetting him. "Don't let what your dad said get you down. He's wrong to disapprove of us, and he'll probably apologize once he realizes just how rude he was to you earlier."

"Don't count on it, my dad is too proud to apologize." Josh said, shaking his head. "For the longer time of my life, I took care of Anna. And I know that he would've too if things were different. But I started raising her on my own when I was just ten years old, and I got her this far. While a baby is different than a five year old, I still thought he'd be more supportive. He was the one person out of that whole group that I hoped would be supportive. And he wasn't, go figure."

After a couple minutes of silence, Josh turned to Gemma and placed his hand on her stomach in gentle manner. "I don't want him around you or the baby, not if he's going to treat us like he did earlier."

"I agree with you, but I'm not sure how easy it'll be to avoid him," Gemma said, resting a hand on top of Josh's.

"I just don't want his negativity around my future child and the woman of my dreams." Josh said, rubbing her stomach softly. "You and this baby, you two are my number one priority. And I'm not going to let his disapproval get in the way of how much I love you."

Gemma smiled and leaned in, kissing Josh's lips softly. "I love you so much," she murmured as their lips parted, leaning their foreheads together. "And I can't wait to raise our child with you."

 **We know this wasn't as much of a sendrick or castin chapter but it's important to the story. But still let us know what you thought, James isn't very popular right now.**

 **Until Next Time.**


	33. Chapter 32: Making Adjustments

Chapter 32: Making Adjustments

"What are you thinking about?" Brittany asked as she rested her head on Anna's chest. The two had woken up a little while ago and were currently cuddling, but the blonde was always able to tell if there was something on the brunette's mind. "You seem a bit preoccupied," she added.

"It's nothing really," Anna said, sighing softly. But of course it was something. It had been a week since Gemma had found out she and Josh were going to be parents, and a week since she or Josh had spoken to their father.

"You can't just say that there's nothing wrong and then sigh like that. I know you, Anna. What's wrong?" Chloe said in a gentle voice as she tried to persuade her girlfriend to answer her question.

"I just hate that my dad reacted the way he did towards Josh and Gemma's baby situation. That's all." Anna said, absentmindedly running her fingers through Brittany's beautiful blonde hair. "He treated Josh like he was too young, like he didn't think his own son would be a good father."

Brittany nodded her head as she listened to Anna talk. "Yeah, I figure that what happened between Josh and your father was upsetting you, and I can understand why it would. He had no right to act like that, and I hope he comes to his senses soon," she replied.

"Yeah, me too." Anna said, laying her head down on Britt's chest. "I just hope Josh realizes that mom and I are there for him, and that he's not alone."

"I'm sure that he knows that. We're all here to support him and Gemma. This is a great thing for them, and even if your father won't support them, they still have many other people who will," Brittany pointed out.

"Yeah, but you didn't see the way Josh's face dropped when my dad started questioning the whole situation. The last time it dropped that fast was when he was told that we had to leave our home before the Healers came to get us, when he was ten years old." Anna mentioned, shaking her head. "I've never seen him so upset by something. Gemma said he threw a picture frame of him and dad against the wall."

"Again, I can understand why he'd be upset. I know how much Josh looks up to your father. It must have hurt a lot when James said that he wasn't ready to be a parent himself. It probably made him feel like he let your dad down," Britt said, running her fingers through Anna's hair.

"Oh I know it did, I could tell by the look on my brother's face." Anna said, closing her eyes. She sighed and then looked up at Brittany. "You're so easy to talk to, you know that?"

"I am?" Brittany asked curiously. "I mean, now that I think about it, I guess I do try to be friendly and easy to talk to. I've never been told that it actually worked though."

"Brittany, I opened up to you before anyone else besides Josh in our friend group. Yes, I had fallen completely in love with you; but part of that was because you weren't hard to talk to." Anna admitted smiling at her girlfriend. "It's just one of the many reasons that I love you, very much."

Brittany blushed at Anna's words, smiling back at her girlfriend. "Thanks, babe. I hope you know that I love you very much as well," she said, leaning in and kissing her girlfriend's lips softly.

Anna smiled into the kiss and only pulled away when Brittany did. "You're perfect to me." She murmured, before kissing Britt's lips one more time.

"You're perfect to me too, baby. Everything about you is flawless in my eyes," Brittany murmured back, smiling into the second kiss.

After about an hour more of cuddling, Anna and Brittany got up. They went and did their first training, and then headed to the cafeteria to eat an early breakfast. When they got to the cafeteria, they saw that Josh and Gemma were already there and sitting at a table with Skylar and Dale, so they went and joined them once they got their food.

"Hey guys, what's up?" Anna said as she and Britt sat down at the table.

"Nothing much, I'm still waking up." Sky mentioned, taking a bit of toast. "How was your guys' morning workout?"

"Our workout was pretty good, but we're still waking up as well," Anna said, taking a sip from her cup of coffee. "How are you feeling, Gemma?" She asked before taking a bite of her oatmeal.

"Morning sickness is starting to hit hard, but I'm doing alright." Gemma stated. "Nurse Nancy said my appetite is going to almost double since I'm eating for two now." She chuckled, pointing her multiple plates of food. One had biscuits and gravy, then one had scrambled eggs and ham, another had fruits such as grapes, strawberries and slices up apples.

"Well, that's to be expected. Are you excited to be a mother?" Brittany asked Gemma.

"Yeah, I am." Gemma said smiling and taking Josh's hand in hers. "I really am," she said smiling at Josh. "I couldn't picture being the mother of anyone else's children." She stated before leaning in and kissing Josh softly on the lips.

The other four people at the table smiled while they watched this exchange. "I for one am certain that you two are going to be great parents," Dale said.

"Thank you," Josh said smiling. "At least you guys can see that unlike some people." He stated, noticing his dad walk into the cafeteria.

Anna briefly glanced at her father and then looked away. "I wonder how long it's going to take for him to come to his senses and realize how terrible he was to you two."

"Don't hold your breath," Josh said before taking a bite of his biscuits and gravy. "Dad is too proud to apologize. He still hasn't formally apologized to Brittany for telling her you were better off without her when your memory was swiped." He stated. "Things just went back to normal, so he thinks he got away with apologizing to Britt."

"I highly doubt he thinks he got away with it. I know that Mom is still upset with him as well for how he treated her," Anna pointed out.

"Well, then what's holding him back from apologizing to both Britt, and Gemma and I then?" Josh asked. "He and mom were twenty-five when they had me, and mom was twenty-four when she got pregnant. I honestly don't get why he thinks I'm not ready to be a father."

Anna shrugged. "I wish I knew. Maybe he doesn't think you're ready because he hasn't really been in your life for all that long. I mean, we didn't see our parents for a really long time. Maybe he just doesn't want to accept the fact that you've grown up."

Josh knew Anna had a good point there, so he just took a deep breath and nodded. "That may be true, but I'm not letting him around my child unless he apologizes to both us and Britt. It's just the right thing for him to do."

Anna nodded. "And I totally agree with you there. Just don't give up on him, okay? He'll come around eventually, even if it takes him a long time to get over his pride."

"Yeah, hopefully." Josh said, finishing his coffee. "I'm going to go get another cup of coffee." He then kissed Gemma's cheek and then got up from the table.

Brittany then turned to Gemma. "So, it might be early, but have you been thinking of any names for the baby?" She asked.

"Josh has been trying to think of some names, and so have I. He even wrote down a list for each gender, and then he wrote down gender neutral names." Gemma said smiling to herself. "This whole baby deal is bringing out a super cute side of him."

"So basically he's becoming a softie now that he's gonna be a dad?" Anna said with a chuckle.

"Kind of, yeah." Gemma giggled. "He lifts up my shirt, and then talks to the baby through my stomach. It's the sweetest thing I've ever seen." She mentioned.

A smirk appeared on Anna's face. "Well, this is fantastic. Now I've got something to make fun of him for," she said, getting chuckles from everyone and a playful slap on the arm from Brittany.

"I don't think you could embarrass him for it though, Anna." Dale said smiling the brunette and then looking over at Josh as he began to walk back over. "He's so happy that he's going to be a father, he probably loves talking to the baby. That's what my father did with my younger sisters."

"Don't try and take this away from me. I don't always get something that I can use to make fun of Josh," Anna replied with a chuckle. "Even if he doesn't get embarrassed, it's still worth it."

"Okay, if you say so." Dale said shaking her head playfully at the young brunette.

"How are your parents handling this whole pregnancy thing, Gemma?" Skylar asked with a smile.

"They're handling it really well, actually. They were surprised at first when we told them the news, but they're being really supportive," Gemma said to him with a smile.

"That's great to know," Skylar said. "You guys deserve all the support you're getting and more."

"Thanks, and Josh and I will always support you guys if you need it. We're always here for you," Gemma said to everyone at the table.

After breakfast, Brittany was in the gym to practice combat. She was taping up her hands when she felt Anna's arms wrap around her from behind. "Hey babe." She said with a smile as she continued to wrap athletic tape around her fingers.

"How are you?" Anna murmured in her ear, resting her chin on Brittany's shoulder and continuing to hold her close.

"I am doing pretty well. How was teasing Josh about turning into a softie?" Britt asked, now taping her knuckles.

"It was pretty satisfying for me. Like Gemma said, he didn't really get embarrassed though. He's head over heels for that girl," Anna replied with a smile.

"He certainly is, just like his sister is head over heels for a different girl. A girl that she's currently kissing on the back of her shoulder." Brittany said, chuckling when Anna began to kiss along the back of her shoulder.

"There's no denying that I'm head over heels for you, babe," Anna said, chuckling as well and continuing to leave kisses on Brittany's shoulder.

"Are you excited to be an aunt?" Britt asked, turning to face her girlfriend once she finished taping her hands.

"Very, very excited." Anna mentioned with a big smile on her face. "I didn't think I would be this ecstatic about getting a chance to have a niece or a nephew. Now that it's actually happening, I cannot wait to meet Josh's son or daughter."

"I can't wait to meet him or her either. I'm gonna be an aunt," Brittany said, smiling and looking into Anna's eyes.

"Yes you are," Anna couldn't keep the smile off of her face. "And you're going to be the most adorable aunt there ever was."

"I appreciate the compliment, but I don't know how that's possible considering that you're also going to be an aunt as well. In my opinion, you'll be the most adorable aunt there ever was," Brittany replied, kissing Anna's cheek.

"Well, this is only time I'll accept being called adorable." Anna said chuckling before pulling Brittany by her hips so their bodies were pressed together. She leaned in and placed a tender kiss on her girlfriend's lips. "Mmm," Anna hummed into the kiss. "Work hard babe, I'll be waiting for you." She whispered, smirking as she pulled away from the kiss to go run on the treadmill.

Brittany smirked back at her girlfriend, watching as she walked over the treadmill. The blonde then finished taping up her hands and went over to one of the punching bags, starting to practice combat.

Anna knew she had just motivated Brittany to get her training down as quickly and efficiently as possible. She then started to run on the treadmill to test her endurance. The brunette occasionally looked over at her girlfriend, smiling and waving at her when they made eye contact at one point.

Brittany waved back at her girlfriend and then continued her training. The blonde stood in her fighting stance, throwing and landing a few punches on the punching bag. She knew that she had to be able to protect herself more after what had happened last time when they destroyed the Healers base. Which hadn't caused a retaliation yet from Heinrick and his followers, but you never knew what could happen. And the people at the rebel base were praying that it didn't happen for a while longer, as they were training new soldiers after they lost some on that mission.

Afterwards, Anna took a shower and so did Brittany. Since Anna got done, she wrote a message on the steamy window door of Britt's shower. It said: 'My room, fifteen minutes.' The brunette then left to go to her room, smirking to herself. She left the door to her room unlocked and sat down on the bed as she waited for her girlfriend to join her.

Brittany saw the note after her shower and smiled, biting her lip as she dried her hair and body with a towel. She then clothed herself and hurried over to Anna's room, knowing exactly what they were going to be up to.

Anna smirked to herself when she heard the door to her room open, and she smiled as Brittany walked in. "I take it that you saw the note I left?" The brunette asked.

"How could I miss it?" Brittany said. She smiled lustfully and closed the door behind her, locking it as she did so.

"I'm glad that you saw the note," Anna said, smiling and taking Brittany's hand when she walked over to her. The brunette leaned up and kissed the blonde's lips softly, cupping her face with her hands. "I love you so much," she murmured.

"I love you too babe," Britt whispered before falling onto the bed with Anna. "I love you so, so much."

"How much do you love me?" Anna asked, pulling Brittany onto her lap and connecting their lips in a loving kiss.

"I love you more than the universe is wide." Brittany whispered, resting her hands on Anna's shoulders and smiling into the kiss.

Anna smiled at these and ran her fingers through Brittany's hair while they kissed. "That's good to hear, because I love you that much as well," she murmured against her lips. The brunette then reached behind to Brittany's back and grabbed at her shirt. "I want this off of you." Anna whispered, pulling the garment over her girlfriends head and throwing it to the floor, then scooting Brittany up her lap and kissing her quickly before moving her lips to the blonde girl's collarbone and neck.

"Mmm, Anna," Brittany moaned, tilting her head to the side so her girlfriend had better access to her neck. "You're so good to me. What did I ever do to deserve you?" The blonde murmured.

"You attacked me in the woods all those months ago." Anna said with a chuckle before moving her lips down to Brittany's collarbone again, nipping at her skin softly.

"You really are never going to get over that, are you?" Brittany said, chuckling as well. Her chuckle then turned into a moan as Anna left a couple hickeys on her collarbone.

"No I won't, because that was when I met the love of my life." Anna answered, moving one hand up to the push-up bra Britt was wearing. She snuck her hand underneath it and smirked when the sudden contact between her hand and the skin of Britt's breast. Anna then began to massage it softly.

Brittany tilted her head back and let out a low moan. "Shit, Anna. Keep doing that," she whispered, biting down on her lip to stop herself from moaning again. Anna used the opportunity of Britt's head leaning back and kissed all over her neck, sucking a hickey onto her pulse point.

Anna then used her free hand to reach down between their bodies and softly rub Brittany's core through the shorts she was wearing. "Mmmm, I can already feel how wet you are baby."

"Can you blame me? You know how easily I get turned on by you," Brittany whispered, closing her eyes and moaning softly. "I can't help how you make me feel, baby."

"You're so sexy." Anna whispered, rubbing her harder. "Say my name." She whispered.

Brittany tried to keep herself from saying Anna's name but eventually gave in. "Fuck, Anna. That feels so good," the blonde moaned. "Fucking hell!" Anna held Brittany's body up against hers and continued each of her movements.

Anna slid her hand up Britt's shorts from her inner thigh and began rubbing her again, this time through her underwear. "Who do you belong to?" Anna whispered, moving her lips back to Brittany's and sneaking her tongue inside Brittany's mouth.

"You, baby. I belong to you and only you," Brittany muttered, cupping Anna's face in her hands as their tongues battled for dominance. "Fuck, baby! Keep going!" Brittany moaned loudly. Anna smirked at this and moved her hand away for a moment so that she could pull Britt's shorts off and make it easier for her to access the girls core.

The young brunette then kissed up her girlfriend's inner thighs and up to her breasts while she slid one finger inside of Brittany to start out. Brittany let out a long moan, her chest heaving as Anna started to thrust her finger in and out. "Fuck, baby," she groaned, her eyes rolling back into her head.

"You're so hot," Anna murmured against the blonde's chest as she continued to pleasure her turned on girlfriend.

"Not as hot as you," Brittany muttered, pushing Anna's head down closer to her skin. "I need more, baby. More," the blonde whimpered softly.

This spurred Anna on, and she added a finger, making it two. Her mouth covered one of Britt's breasts and began to suck on it gently as her fingers pushed in and out at a good pace. "Moan for me, babe." She whispered, moving her mouth to the other breast. "Moan loud."

"Anna," Brittany moaned softly, tugging at the ends of her girlfriend's hair. The blonde then gasped a little when she felt Anna's teeth nip at her skin, and she moaned louder. "Fuck, Anna!"

The brunette then kissed down Brittany's body and kissed her right above where she needed her most. "Mmm, I can already taste how wet you are baby." She said as she thrusted.

"Only for you, baby," Brittany panted, struggling to catch her breath. "I'm only this wet for you," she whispered, her body trembling in anticipation as Anna's mouth got closer to her core. Britt's words turned Anna on and spurred her to begin going down on the blonde.

"Mmmmm, fuck you taste good." Anna muttered, flicking her tongue around. "So fucking good." She said before continuing to thrust her fingers in and out while her lips and tongue enjoyed her wet core.

"Fucking hell!" Brittany yelled out, moaning as Anna finally began to pleasure her. The blonde threw her head back onto the pillows of the bed, whimpering each time Anna thrusted her fingers and tongue. She could already feel her walls begin to clench up, so she did her best to hold off the climax for a little while longer.

Anna smiled and kissed her inner thighs before moving back to her core before adding a third finger. "You're so fucking hot."

Brittany moaned when Anna added a third finger, knowing that she was getting closer to her climax by the second. "Fuck! I'm almost there, baby!" She called out.

This made Anna smirk and go harder than she had ever gone before, pleasuring her girlfriend and thrusting those fingers in and out at a fast and rough pace. Her tongue and mouth paid attention to Brittany's clit, flicking her tongue on it while using her lips to suck on it. She looked up and made eye contact with Britt as she did these things, wanting to see her come undone.

Brittany was barely keeping herself from going over the edge, but she wasn't able to hold on anymore once Anna made eye contact with her. "Fuck! ANNA!" She screamed at the top of her lungs, pushing the brunette's head impossibly closer to her core as she helped her ride out her high.

The brunette's mouth stayed connected her Brittany's clit and she thrusted hard and fast to help her girlfriend get through her orgasm. "Mmmmm, fuck you're so fucking good."

All Brittany could do was moan as Anna's tongue continued to work its magic on her core. "How are you this good?" Brittany asked with a tired chuckle, closing her eyes and sighing with content.

"I really don't know, practice?" Anna said smiling and chuckling as she continued to soothe Brittany's throbbing core with her tongue.

Brittany chuckled at Anna's answer and pulled the brunette up into a sweet kiss a few moments later. The blonde lingered on the brunette's lips, smiling and running her fingers through her hair. "I love you so much," she murmured against her girlfriend's lips. "So, so much."

"I love you too." Anna mumbled, smiling as the kiss broke slightly. "More than anything in this world." She said, holding Brittany's body close to her own. She then let Brittany flip them over and she pulled the blonde down into a kiss.

Brittany smiled into the kiss and pinned Anna's hands above her head once she had flipped them over. "I love you so, so much," she murmured against the brunette's lips. Anna willingly let the girl take over, smiling as she kissed her back and let the blondes tongue into her mouth.

"Mmmmm, I know you do baby." Anna mumbled, smiling against Britt's lips.

"Do you know how much I love you?" Brittany asked, moving her lips to Anna's neck. "Because if you don't know, I'll gladly show you," the blonde added, leaving a hickey on the brunette's skin.

 _Fuck, I have the hottest girlfriend ever_ , Anna thought to herself as Brittany left a hickey on her neck. "I do know, but I'd still like you to show me." Anna mumbled, craning to her neck to one side for Brittany's lips.

"That's good, because I was planning on doing that anyways," Brittany replied, leaving a few more hickeys on Anna's neck before moving her lips to the girl's collarbone.

"Oh god, fuck babe." Anna cursed under her breath, knowing that Brittany was fully aware that she loved kisses on her shoulder.

Brittany smirked at Anna's reaction and continued to leave kisses on the brunette's skin. "I assume that you're enjoying this?" The blonde murmured, leaving a hickey on Anna's collarbone and then soothing it with her tongue.

"Do you really have to even ask that at this point in our relationship?" Anna said with a chuckle before moaning as Brittany left little love bites all over the skin of her neck and collarbone.

Brittany chuckled at Anna's response. "I guess that is true. I just wanted to make sure that you like what I'm doing," she said, trailing her lips all over Anna's skin and not leaving a single inch untouched.

"I love being able to do this with you babe." Anna murmured, biting her bottom lip and closing her eyes so that she wouldn't get worked up too easily.

"I love doing this too. This is one of my favorite things to do," Brittany murmured back, starting to grind her hips against Anna's to create friction between their bodies. This made Anna grip Britt's waist tightly, holding the girl close and moaning softly as the girl did so.

"You're so good with your hips baby." Anna whispered, biting her lip as she became more and more turned on.

"I know how much you love this," Brittany whispered, moving her lips back to Anna's. She tugged at the brunette's bottom lip with her teeth and then deepened the kiss by slipping her tongue in her mouth, their tongues beginning to battle for dominance once again. "Mmm, I love this," the blonde whispered, continuing to grind their hips together.

"God, this is so hot." Anna whispered, scratching down Brittany's bare back. "I'm so turned on right now." She mumbled, moaning when her girlfriends hips rammed against her core. "Fuck," she whimpered. "Brittany," she moaned.

"Hmm? What is it, baby? You can tell me anything you want to," Brittany whispered in her girlfriend's ear, nibbling on her earlobe with her teeth.

"I need you," Anna whispered, biting her lip softly. "Fuck, I need you bad." She moaned, arching her body and biting her lip to keep from getting overly-excited.

"How badly do you need me, baby?" Brittany whispered, knowing the effect she was having on Anna. The blonde began massaging one of the brunette's breasts over her bra, smirking when she moaned.

"So badly, Britt." Anna whimpered, feeling herself get wetter as Britt continued. She arched her back into Britt's touch, moaning as the girl kneaded her boob. "Take this off and put your mouth on it baby."

Brittany smirked and reached behind Anna's back, fumbling with her bra strap until she managed to unclip it. The blonde tossed the brunette's bra aside and then attached her mouth to her breast like she had asked, digging her nails into the brunette's skin.

"God, that's so hot!" Anna moaned, tangling her fingers in Brittany's hair. "Yes, babe. Don't stop!"

Brittany's hands then began to make their way down Anna's body, unbuttoning her jeans and then sliding them down her legs. The blonde then trailed her hands back up the brunette's body, getting closer and closer to her core. "What do you want me to do, baby?"

"Fuck me, please." Anna moaned, spreading her legs open for the blonde. She bit her lip and closed her eyes as she awaited the feelings of pleasure Britt was about to give her.

Brittany leaned forward and kissed Anna's lips softly. "I will, baby. I'm gonna make you feel so good," the blonde mumbled against her lips before inserting a finger inside her girlfriend, building up a pace with her thrusts and then adding a second finger. This instantly made Anna's hips buck against her girlfriend's movements, maximising her pleasure.

"Don't stop babe," she groaned, throwing her head back and moaning softly as Brittany gave her what she needed.

The blonde girl smirked at Anna's reaction and moved her lips back to the brunette's chest. "Say my name, baby. Say my name," Brittany murmured, adding a third finger and starting to thrust harder.

"Oh Brittany, fuck babe." Anna bit her lip and spread her legs further apart. "Ah shit, that feels good!" She pulled the blonde down into a kiss so Brittany could feel her moans as well as hear them.

Brittany continued thrusting her fingers, starting to tug at Anna's g-spot. "Just like that, baby. Say my name again," the blonde mumbled against the brunette's lips as they kissed.

Anna bit her bottom lip and moaned softly. Her body was aching in pure pleasure, and she could feel her body get closer and closer to its climax. "Brittany," Anna moaned, arching her back and pushing her hips against Brittany's fingers to get as much pleasure as she could. "Oh Brittany!"

"That's it, baby. Just like that. Tell me who you belong to," Brittany purred in her ear, knowing that Anna would go over the edge soon since her body was starting to tense up.

"Harder," Anna moaned. "Love me harder!" She said, throwing her head back and gripping the sheets. Her legs spread further open for Brittany, and moans continued to come out of her mouth.

Brittany did as Anna asked, feeling the brunette's body begin to tense up even more. "How close are you, babe?" The blonde whispered, panting as she struggled to catch her breath while still thrusting her fingers.

"So close, fuck!" Anna moaned and kissed Brittany's lips while the blonde continued her actions. "I think you-" she moaned loudly. "I think you know what I-" She moaned again. "What I need."

Brittany smirked and nodded her head. "Believe me, babe, I know exactly what you need," the blonde purred in her ear, replacing her fingers with her tongue and humming as she began to suck on the brunette's folds.

"Shit, Brittany!" Anna grabbed at the sheets of the bed with one hand and Brittany's blonde hair with the other, biting her lip as she grew closer to climax. Her back arched and her toes began to curl, the young brunette could feel her body's pleasure increasing by the second.

Brittany smirked, going harder and faster with her tongue to pleasure Anna as much as possible. She added two fingers, knowing that would help push her girlfriend over the edge and reach her climax. Soon Anna called out Brittany's name as she reached her orgasm, and the girl pulled her girlfriend up into a kiss as she came down from her high.

Brittany smiled and sighed with content when their lips connected. "How was that, baby?" The blonde asked when their lips parted, smiling and gazing lovingly into Anna's eyes.

"So fucking good babe." Anna said smiling and pulling Brittany into a sweet kiss.

Brittany smiled into the kiss and cupped Anna's face in her hands as they kissed. "I'm glad it was as good for you as it was for me," she murmured softly.

"I love you so much, Britt. And I hope you know that." Anna mumbled as they had their post-sex cuddle session.

Brittany smiled and leaned her forehead against Anna's. "Of course I know that, babe. I hope that you know how much I love you too," she murmured back to her girlfriend.

"I just thought that I would remind you, just in case." Anna said sweetly before kissing her forehead.

After they lay there awhile, the two girls got up and went to meet everyone else for dinner. They walked hand-in-hand down the hallway towards the cafeteria, walking inside once they reached the door. When they got there, they saw that Skylar and Dale were already sitting at a table and eating their food. The two women went over to the buffet and got their food before sitting down with their friends.

"Hey, Skylar. Hey, Dale. What have you guys been up to?" Anna asked them as she sat down with her tray of food.

"Just hanging out, we did a little training earlier." Dale mentioned, taking a bite of her roasted potatoes. "There hasn't been a lot to do around here since the mission to the Healers base, though."

Anna nodded her head in agreement. "Yeah, things have been surprisingly quiet around here lately. I do like it, though. It's nice to have a break once in awhile," she said.

"Do you think that Heinrick has even found out about us destroying the base? There hasn't been any backlash towards it yet, and that means one of three things." Skylar said, sipping his water. "Either he's not back in the U.S. yet, he's not strong enough to fight back, or he's planning something big."

"I would say that it's probably either the first or third things you just said. Sure, he's lost a lot of soldiers, but that doesn't mean that he's not strong enough to fight back. We know that he is. My guess is that he's probably not back in the U.S. yet and that he's planning something big for when he returns," Anna said to Skylar.

"Which means we have to prepare for whatever is coming." Brittany added. "I was told earlier by Terry that a search party was being sent to the areas near the main base to look for any survivors. She's trying to rally as many people onto our side as she can."

"But what if those people don't want to join our side?" Dale said. "I mean, I wouldn't blame them for not wanting to take part in the war, especially after all that's happened. Of course I want to get as many people on our side as possible, but I think we should also respect the people who don't want to risk losing anything else."

"I know some people won't want to fight, and that's their place." Anna stated. "It's just that the more we can get on our side the better. Who's on that search party?"

"Terry, Jason, Meleike, and Sam." Brittany said. "James and Joan are there as well to act as doctors."

Anna nodded, pausing and thinking for a few moments. "Do you think that more people should be in the search party? Six people doesn't seem like enough," she said.

"It's not a combat group, so the number is fine. They do have people on standby in case there is some sort of conflict. Lucas is one of them, and so are Sam and Gemma's parents." Brittany informed the rest of them. "They should be getting back any minute now from the first mission. Hopefully they'll have a few more people who are willing to fight for victory against Heinrick and his goons."

"And hopefully those people will be willing to tell us a little more about what happened to them," Skylar said. "We have a basic idea of the raids that Heinrick and his army have been carrying out, but we still don't know enough. Any information can and will be helpful to us."

Brittany nodded. "The quicker we find out his weaknesses the better."

They then continued to eat together until Gemma came in. "Guys, they're back and they need some help. Some of the people they brought in are injured."

Everyone immediately got up from the table and walked over to Gemma. "Where are they? And what can we do to help?" Anna asked.

"Just come and help get them to the hospital wing." Gemma said, gesturing for everyone in that small group to follow her.

As they got there, they saw Sam and Terry each carrying a couple of injured people in their arms. Sam saw them and nodded her head towards the main hangar. "There are a couple more people in there," she said as she carried an unconscious girl about hers and Dale's age in her arms.

The group went to the main hangar, finding more injured people like Sam had said there would be. Anna and Britt started helping people walk to the infirmary while Skylar and Dale started carrying people who couldn't walk at all.

Sam set the girl down on the bed and Joan started working on her. "Just make sure she's alright," Sam said. She had rescued this girl from a burning building in the small town of McCook, Nebraska. "She's got a younger brother and she's all he has."

Joan nodded. "Don't worry, Sam. I've got this under control," she said with a smile. "I'll take care of her and then I'll be ready to help someone else."

"Thank you," Sam said, nodding her head in acknowledgement. "Her name is Gina." She stated. "Just so you know when she wakes up." Sam then went to help everyone else who needed to get to the hospital.

Anna and Brittany were helping some patients to the infirmary when Sam walked by them, heading for the main hangar. "Hey, Sam!" Anna called out to get her attention. The blonde girl turned her head and looked at Anna. "Where did all these people come from?" She asked.

"Nebraska, we got them from Nebraska." Sam said as she went to help Anna and Brittany.

"Huh, I didn't think that Heinrick would have a base in Nebraska, let alone one of his main bases," Anna said as they made their way towards the hospital wing.

"They aren't from a base," Sam said. "Their town was attacked by Heinrick's men just two days ago." She stated as she helped Anna and Brittany.

"Knowing how brutal Heinrick's soldiers can be, it's a miracle that all these people made it out alive," Anna remarked.

"We only got fifty out of two thousand people. Let's just hope they'll side with us and choose to fight." Sam stated as they got the last of the people into the hospital.

Once they got everyone in the hospital, the group met outside while the patients were tended to. "So, what should we do now? We should probably talk to Terry and see what the plan is going forward," Anna said.

"You two can do that. I'm going to stay here and check on all of the patients." Sam said, gesturing for Anna and Brittany to go and find Terry.

Sam went back inside the infirmary, leaving Anna, Brittany, Skylar, and Dale in the hallway. "Alright, Anna and I will go talk to Terry. What are you guys going to do?" Brittany asked Skylar and Dale.

"We'll go and see if they brought back any resources." Dale said, taking Skylar by the hand and turning back towards the main hangar.

"Let's go find Terry." Anna said, nodding at Britt for her to come along.

The two walked towards Terry's office, finding the door open when they got there and Anna's aunt talking with some of the other rebel leaders. Anna walked up and knocked on the door a little to get Terry's attention. "Hey, Terry. Can I talk to you when you have a second?"

Terry gestured for the two girls to come in, telling them to stay quiet by putting a finger to her lips. "Apparently Heinrick has been laying siege to small towns that can't defend themselves," one person said.

"Do we have any idea as to why he'd do that? Is he just trying to destroy everything in his path, or does he want to get some more people on his side?" Someone else said.

That's when Terry spoke up. "He must be doing it to scare people into joining him. Heinrick has always had a plan behind every move he makes, he's not just destroying these towns for no reason." She stated confidently. "And you can bet he's videotaping it and planning to release it to the public. What we need to do is send a message to the people of America and try to get them to flee their towns before he gets there, so no more harm can be done."

"And how are we supposed to do that? We tried doing that video thing, but it obviously hasn't worked. Heinrick hasn't shown any signs of slowing down, and we haven't gotten many new people to join us," the first person said, crossing his arms.

"Do you have any better ideas?" Terry shot back, getting the man to back down. "The only way we will get at least some people to join us is if we send out a propaganda video. If we can get a few more people on our side, at least that's worth something."

"Fine. If that's our only option, then so be it. We have to get the video out fast, though, and it has to be better than the last one," the man replied firmly.

"It will be. And it will be simple, just getting the message out without over dramatizing it like Heinrick does." Terry said, standing up. "Dismissed." She said before everyone else left. The woman turned to Anna and Britt. "What can I help you two with right now?"

"We just wanted to give you an update on the survivors of Heinrick's attack. We got all of them to the hospital and they're being cared for as we speak," Anna informed her aunt.

"That's good to hear. That wasn't an easy mission." Terry said as she sat down and sighed. "Fifty, we only could save fifty out of two thousand people."

"Whether it's fifty people, five hundred people, or only five, you still saved lives today," Brittany said as she and Anna sat down across from Terry. "No good deed is ever too small. Just because you didn't save everyone doesn't mean that you didn't do something amazing today. Thanks to you, fifty people are alive. That's something to be proud of."

"Heinrick is back now, obviously. His soldiers wouldn't do this without any orders. This is the third of their small-town attacks. He's probably trying to make people see that he's still the strongest force in the country after we destroyed the base." Terry stated, shaking her head. "We need to come up with ideas quickly, the propaganda videos will only distract for a little while. We need to find a way to protect the people from his attacks, because not everyone will listen to the warning."

"They'd be stupid not to listen to the warning, especially now that Heinrick has started to target small towns. Nobody is safe anymore," Anna said in a serious tone. "What if our videos aren't enough? Maybe we should send people out to spread the word in places where people don't watch or care about the videos," she suggested.

"I think we need to send groups of people to the towns Heinrick may be targeting next." Terry said, leaning back in her chair. "If we can defend those towns or get everyone out before they come, then we can save thousands more."

Both Anna and Brittany nodded their heads in agreement. "So, is that our official plan? Send groups of people to potential target areas then try to evacuate everyone and defend those who choose to stay?" Brittany asked.

"Yes. I believe it's our best chance at saving people's lives." Terry said, nodding her head and standing up. "I'll call a mandatory meeting this evening to discuss the plan with everyone. You two are dismissed." She stated.

Anna and Brittany walked out of Terry's office and headed down the hall towards the workout room. "Do you think that our plan will work?" Anna asked Brittany, taking one of the blonde's hands in hers as they walked side-by-side.

"I hope so. If we can't save those small towns, it'll make it less likely for people to join us. I just hope we have enough people to face Heinrick's men." Brittany stated before they made a turn towards the mess hall.

Anna nodded. "Yeah, we'll need as many people as we can get for when we face Heinrick again. Even if we don't match his numbers, I think we'll be a lot more prepared this time around."

 **So, Heinrick seems to be desperate, but hopefully the rebels plan will save them.**

 **Plus you can't go wrong with some sweet Sendrick moments ;)**

 **Until next time!**


	34. Chapter 33: Sam & Gina

Chapter 33: Sam & Gina

Joan Kendrick was currently caring for the victims they had helped save from the small town of McCook, Nebraska. She was tending to a young Latina woman who was currently in a medically-induced coma so they could help her get back to good health. She had been caught in a crossfire of Healers while getting her sixteen year old brother named Mateo to safety.

Joan was checking her blood-iron levels as well as her pulse when Sam walked in. "How are all the patients doing?" She asked, walking over to Anna's mother as she continued to care for Gina.

"They're all doing pretty well. We've had to put some of the patients, like Gina here, in comas to help the healing process, but we expect them all to make a full recovery," Joan replied, looking up at Sam and smiling.

Sam nodded and tucked her hair back behind her ear, looking at Gina as she slept. "That's good to hear. They need to be healthy if we're going to have them join us in the fight against Heinrick."

Joan nodded. "They're all going to recover at different paces, but a good number of people should be healthy by the time we make our next move against Heinrick."

"Will Gina?" Sam asked curiously. "Her brother is asking about her." This was true, but Sam also wanted to know if she'd be okay.

"I'm not sure. It all depends on when the next battle will be and how fast she recovers," Joan said. "Her brother can come visit her if he wants to."

Sam nodded and tucked her hair behind her hair. "I'll go get him." She then left the room and went to find Mateo. She found the sixteen year old running on a treadmill in the training room. "Hey Mateo, you can go visit your sister."

"Really? I can visit Gina now?" Mateo asked excitedly, stepping off of the treadmill and walking towards Sam.

"Yeah, she's not awake. But you can visit her now." Sam said smiling kindly at the young boy. "Just head over to hospital wing with me, alright?" She said, gesturing for him to follow her.

Mateo nodded his head and then followed Sam out of the training room and to the hospital. When they got to Gina's room, he hesitated a little. "She's in there, right? And you're sure I'm allowed to see her?" He asked Sam.

"I was in here earlier with one of the doctors." Sam said, holding the door open for the boy. "And I promise that it's okay for you to go see her." She stated.

"Okay," Mateo said, smiling gratefully as Sam held the door open. He walked inside, seeing his sister asleep on a hospital bed. "How long has she been asleep?" He asked Sam as she joined him in the room.

"A day or so. Don't worry, they got her into a stable condition. Now she just needs to rest." Sam said, smiling and patting his shoulder. "But she should make a full recovery."

"I bet her girlfriend wishes she could be here to see her and know she's okay." Mateo said.

"Her girlfriend?" Sam asked, her eyes widening.

"Yeah, Gina is bisexual. She and her girlfriend Layla got separated during the attack on McCook. We don't know if she survived." Mateo said, looking down.

"If you want, I can ask around and find out if Layla is one of the other patients that we brought in," Sam offered.

"I'm sure Gina would appreciate that," Mateo stated before turning back to look at his sister. "I just can't believe they're all gone. Our whole family is gone."

Sam put a hand on Mateo's shoulder to try and comfort him. "I can't even begin to imagine how hard losing your entire family is," she said sympathetically. "My family was lucky in that my sister and my parents made it out alive with me," the older girl added. After a moment of silence between the two, she spoke again. "If you or Gina want to talk to someone about, you can always talk to me, or any of the other people here."

"Thanks Sam, it means a lot." Mateo said, smiling and nodding at the blonde girl.

Later that night, Sam came into the hospital and sat beside Gina's bed. She gazed upon the beautiful girl, laying in the bed unconscious. Sam had never seen someone so beautiful; it made her want to see Gina's eyes and her smile. "You don't know me," Sam said softly. "But my name is Sam Winters, and I helped rescue you and your brother from the Healers' attack on your town. I know you probably can't hear me and you probably won't remember me when you wake up, but I just thought I should tell you who I am. And that I think you're beautiful. Very beautiful, actually. The most beautiful woman I've ever seen." She added, blushing even though no one could see her do so.

The door to Gina's room opened a few moments later, and Joan poked her head in. "How's Gina doing? Her vitals are still stable?" She asked, stepping inside to take a look at the monitor next to the patient's bed.

Sam nodded. "Yes, I checked about five minutes ago." She said, still gazing at Gina.

Joan smiled, noticing the way the young girl looked at Gina. "You know, you don't have to stay here all night to check her vitals. I can do that if you want to get some sleep."

Sam shook her head. "No, it's okay. I'll stay here with her. If anyone needs to get some sleep, it's you. You've been taking care of patients all day."

"I get off of my shift in an hour. I'll get some sleep then," Joan stated. "But you need to get some sleep too, these patients have been here for three days now and I always catch you sitting here so late. You need just as much rest as I do."

As much as Sam wanted to stay there with Gina, the young girl knew that Joan wasn't going to budge on her stance. "Okay, I'll go get some rest," she said reluctantly. "But I'm going to be back as soon as I wake up," she added.

"That's alright with me, just get some sleep." Joan said, kindly patting Sam's shoulder as the girl walked towards the girl. "And don't worry, she's not going anywhere. At least not right now." She winked when Sam looked back at Gina.

Sam smiled and looked down, starting to blush. "Thanks for keeping an eye on her. I'll see you tomorrow," she said, looking at Gina one last time before she opened the door and walked out of the room.

The next morning, Sam was training with Anna, Brittany, Dale, and Ester. They were all currently taking part in hand to hand combat, having the winner stay on. Britt was the champion, beating Dale, Ester and surprisingly Anna. Now it was Sam's turn, and she took a deep breath as she stepped up into the ring.

Britt was standing at the other side of the ring, getting in her fighting stance after having taken a few sips from her water bottle and wiped the sweat from her forehead with a towel. "You ready?" She called over to Sam, who seemed a little hesitant at the moment.

"Yeah, I am." Sam said, making sure her body was in the right position to begin fighting. She took a deep breath and then they both nodded their head.

"Ready, set, fight!" Anna called out, initiating the fight so the two girls could get going. When Anna said those words, Brittany started moving towards Sam, holding her hands up in front of her so she could counter any move that Sam made. Neither one of them made a move for awhile, so Britt lunged forward and landed a few quick punches on Sam's stomach.

Sam stumbled back a little but stayed on her feet, blocking the next few kicks and punches that Brittany threw her way. She then got a couple hits on Brittany, staying strong in the heat of the moment.

Now it was Brittany's turn to stumble backwards, but the blonde quickly recovered and regained her fighting stance. "Those were a good couple of hits, but I know you can do better," the blonde commented, throwing a few punches at Sam and landing the latter two of them.

Britt's encouragement drove Sam to be tougher, and Sam dodged another punch before she threw a hard punch to the stomach and then two to Britt's sides. "How about that? Is that tough enough for you?" The girl responded as she waited for Britt to regain her balance.

Brittany nodded her head and chuckled. "You certainly took my words to heart," she said, struggling for a few moments to catch her breath. Once she did, the blonde held her hands up in front of her face and started moving towards Sam, being careful in case the girl made any more moves.

Sam didn't stop attacking there, she threw a roundhouse kick that Brittany dodged only to be met with a punch to her side and then a knee to the stomach. As the other blonde girl stumbled backwards and fell to the ground, Sam took advantage and pinned her down till Anna held the count of three. "That's it! Sam won!" Anna called out, and Sam got off of Brittany. "Looks like you've been dethroned, babe."

"Yeah, that's what it looks like, doesn't it?" Brittany said with a tired chuckle as she wiped the sweat from her forehead with a towel. The blonde then took a few sips of her water bottle. "I'll get her next time, though. I underestimated her this time, but that won't happen again." She then turned to Sam and smiled. "Good job Sam, you fought hard. You deserved that win." She said.

"Thanks. I don't know what came over me this morning, but I felt stronger." Sam replied, chuckling to herself.

"Whatever it was, it certainly made you stronger. I'm impressed," Brittany said genuinely. "But don't expect that to happen next time. I'm not gonna go down that easily again," the blonde added.

"I'll prepare myself," Sam said smiling before they all packed up the equipment. "I gotta go help Joan with some of the patients, so I'll see you guys later."

"You seem to be spending a lot of time helping my mom at the hospital wing lately. Is everything alright?" Anna asked curiously.

"I'm just checking on the patients, making sure they're okay." Sam said, smiling to herself as she thought about Gina.

Brittany noticed the silly yet sweet smile on Sam's face. She raised her eyebrow and then spoke up. "Who's the girl?" She asked with a smirk.

Sam's face began to turn red, and she avoided eye contact with both Anna and Brittany. "I-I-I don't know what you're talking about," the younger girl stuttered, staring down at her feet.

Both Anna and Britt chuckled at the girl's rosy cheeks, and then Brittany began to talk again. "I'm just saying, the hospital isn't really a place where people hang out. Is there a patient you've taken a particular interest in?"

"N-no, there's nobody that I'm interested in. Why would you say that?" Sam asked, starting to get defensive as she blushed even more.

"I guess it just seems like you're there a lot more recently than you have before, that's all." Brittany said. "But if you say there isn't anyone, I believe you." She added, not wanting to make Sam too uncomfortable. "However if you do want to talk about anything, just know both Anna and I are here for you."

Sam nodded her head. "Thanks, I appreciate it. I'll take you up on that offer if I need to," she said, smiling softly at the other two girls. She then turned and walked out of the training room.

Once she was out of hearing range, Anna spoke up. "Do you really think there's some person she's checking on everyday?" She asked.

Brittany shrugged her shoulders. "That's what it seems like to me, but Sam's being pretty insistent on that not being the case," the blonde replied.

"Well, whatever it is, I just hope Sam's happy." Anna said, putting her arms around Britt's waist from behind as they watch Sam walk away. "She deserves to be happy."

"She really does. She's been through a lot. If anyone deserves to be happy, it's her," Brittany said, smiling and leaning back into Anna's embrace.

Sam made her way to the showers, finishing up rather quickly before heading over to the hospital. Mateo was there, sitting with his sleeping sister. "Hey, how is she?" Sam asked once she opened the door.

"She's good. Her vitals haven't changed or anything, but she's sleeping pretty soundly, so that's good," Mateo replied, smiling as Sam walked over and sat down in the chair next to his. "How are you, Sam?" He asked.

"I just finished training and I wanted to come check on her." Sam said, looking at Sam's vitals for herself. "I haven't heard anything about Layla being here, though. I think if we were holding her here, I'd know by now." She stated, sighing sadly. "I'm sorry," she said.

Mateo nodded his head and then looked down. "Yeah, I kinda figured that out after I didn't hear anything for awhile," he said in a somber tone. After a moment of silence, Mateo spoke again. "How am I going to tell Gina that Layla didn't make it?"

"Just because we didn't find her doesn't mean she didn't make it." Sam said, trying to sound hopeful. "She may have gotten out another way. Sure, the chances of that are slim, but you can't give up hope."

"That may be the case, but Gina's going to assume the worst when she wakes up. I just don't know what to do. She doesn't deserve this. Nobody does," Mateo said with a sad sigh.

"If it'll help, I can explain it to Gina for you once she wakes up." Sam offered, shrugging her shoulders. "I'll only do it if you want me to, though."

Mateo thought about Sam's offer for a few moments before nodding his head. "Yeah, I'd like that," he said, smiling softly. "That would be great. Thanks, Sam."

Sam nodded. "You're welcome, Mateo. I just want to make sure that everything is alright." She turned to look at Gina. "I know we've only just met a couple days ago, but there's something about you and your sister. I feel like I've known you guys for a long time, but I don't know why I feel that way."

"Maybe it's because of this whole war. I think that it brings people closer together, because you have to learn how to trust each other if you want to survive," Mateo replied.

"Perhaps you're correct in assuming that," Sam nodded in agreement with Mateo's statement. "Just know if you or your sister ever need anything, you can tell me and I'll help you with whatever it is."

Mateo nodded his head and smiled softly. "Thanks, Sam. It means a lot to hear you say that. It really does."

"Your welcome." Sam said smiling. "I'll go get you some dinner, you stay here and watch your sister."

"Thanks, Sam. I'll keep an eye on her," Mateo said with a smile. "You've done so much for me and Gina. Thank you for that."

"I'm just doing my job," Sam said before turning and leaving the room to go get herself and Mateo some dinner. After waiting in line for a while, Sam grabbed some chicken, mashed potatoes, rice, and grapes for Mateo. Sam grabbed the same for herself and then got them each a glass of water before heading back to the hospital. What she was met with was a surprise.

There Gina was, awake and moving. Sam hadn't been gone more than fifteen minutes, and Gina was wide-eyed and conscious. The girl didn't know what to do at first, so she just stood there. After awhile, she spoke up. "Uh, hi Gina," she said awkwardly, putting the plates of food down on the table next to the hospital bed. "I'm Sam."

The young woman looked at Sam blankly for a moment, and then smiled. "Hello Sam, it's nice to meet you." She said, shaking the girl's hand. "Have we met before?" She asked.

Sam shook her head. "No, we haven't met before. I've been coming in a lot over the last week or so to check on you and Mateo," she said, sitting down in one of the chairs next to Gina's bed. She looked at the plates of food and then back at Gina and Mateo. "I have some food for you two, you must be starving." She said handing a plate to Mateo and then one to Gina.

"Thank you," Gina said smiling kindly and taking the food. A silence fell between the three of them as they ate their food. After awhile, Gina spoke up. "Where are you from, Sam?" She asked curiously.

"Before the war, I lived in Illinois." Sam said, smiling and handing Mateo his water. "What about you and your family?"

"We're from Nebraska. We'd lived there my whole life until now," Gina said, looking down for a few moments.

"You guys lived in a beautiful spot." Sam said smiling. "And we're going to help restore it to its former glory once we take down Heinrick." Sam stated, looking kindly and genuinely into Gina's eyes. "You have my word on that."

"Thank you. It means a lot to hear you say that. Even so, it's not going to be the same as it was before the war," Gina said sadly. "Nothing is going to go back to how it was before the war."

"Unfortunately, that is true." Sam said, looking down for a moment. "But once this is all over, things are going to be better, and everyone here will help make this beautiful country what it once was: loving and free." She stated.

"Loving and free." Gina repeated, smiling at Sam's words. The two girls looked into each other's eyes for a minute or so, their smiles growing slightly. The moment was eventually interrupted by Mateo.

"Sam, why didn't you get any food for yourself?" The boy asked as he took a sip of water.

"Oh, well uh, I got a plate for myself. But when I had seen that your sister woke up, I gave mine to her," Sam said with a shy smile.

"Oh my god, I didn't know this was for you." Gina apologized. "I'm sorry for stealing your food."

"Don't worry about it," Sam replied, shaking her head. "You haven't eaten in a couple days, so you need it more than I do."

"Still, I feel bad about eating your food," Gina said, pushing the plate over towards Sam. "Here, you can have the rest of it. I'm full anyways."

There was still a good amount of food on the plate, and Sam looked at it before looking at Gina. "Really, it's okay. I can get some food later."

Gina shook her head. "Please, take some of the food. I won't be able to eat it all, and I'll feel bad if you don't eat any," she said.

Sam decided not to playfully argue anymore, and she took the plate. "Alright, but only because you insisted." She chuckled before sipping some water.

"You'll thank me later," Gina said, chuckling along with Sam and watching as the girl took a few bites of food. There was this unspoken but obvious chemistry between the two girls. They hadn't known each other more than ten minutes and Mateo had already noticed something between Sam and Gina.

Anna and Britt were walking past the hospital wing when they saw Sam sitting with Mateo and Gina. Britt noticed the way they were laughing and talking, and a smile spread across her face. "I guess there is a girl." She said, smirking to herself.

Anna looked over and smirked as well. "I knew that there had to be a girl. I just knew it," she said. They stopped and watched the interaction for a little while longer. "Yeah, she definitely likes her. Look at that smile on her face."

"It kind of reminds me of when Josh and Gemma first got to know each other." Brittany mentioned as they then continued to walk along the hallway towards the showers.

Anna nodded her head in agreement. "Or like Skylar and Dale. It took them a surprisingly long amount of time to admit their feelings for each other," the brunette commented.

"How long do you think it will be before it happens for them?" The blonde asked once they made it to the showers. "If you had to guess, how long do you think it will take?"

Anna shrugged her shoulders. "I'm not sure. I guess it depends on if Gina feels the same way and if Sam works up the courage to tell her how she feels."

"I give it two months." Brittany said smiling and linking her hand in Anna's. "Two months before someone says something."

"We'll just have to wait and see. I hope that they get together, though. They both deserve to be happy after everything they've been through," Anna said. The two of them then went into the showers.

Meanwhile, Gemma and Josh were going in for a checkup on the baby. They weren't going to find out the gender since it was too early, but they were going to see if the baby was forming properly. Josh squeezed Gemma's hand firmly as they waited, he was very nervous. He hoped that their baby was healthy, and that Gemma was healthy as well. Gemma could tell he was a bit anxious, so she leaned over and placed a gentle kiss on his cheek. "It's going to be okay, Josh," she whispered to him in a soft voice.

"I know that. I just can't help but worry that something might be wrong with our baby," Josh said with a sigh, running his fingers through his hair. "I'm not stupid for being worried, right?" He asked.

"No, not at all." She said, turning his head so they were facing each other. "This whole situation is scary, but everything will be okay." She said before leaning in and placing a kiss on Josh's lips. Once she pulled away, she continued to speak. "Now, just take a few deep breaths, babe."

Josh did as Gemma told him to, a small smile slowly crossing his face. "Thanks, babe. You always know how to calm me down when I'm stressed," he said in a grateful tone of voice. He placed his hand on her stomach, rubbing it softly.

Just as they were about to be called back, James walked out and saw his son with the woman carrying his baby. Things were very tense between them, given the fact that James had rejected his own grandchild because he believed Josh and Gemma weren't fit to be parents. "I suppose you two are here for an appointment." He said irritably.

"So what if we are? That's none of your concern." Josh stated calmly but firmly. "Now just leave us alone."

"You two aren't ready to have this baby." James stated, shaking his head.

"Like I said before, this isn't your baby so it's not your decision." Josh said, standing up and facing up to his father. "And I don't want you near Gemma or my child."

"Considering with how unprepared you both are, I think you should want me near your child. You're going to need all the help you can get," James replied snarkily, crossing his arms.

"Not if you're going to be so negative, you haven't said one positive thing to me since we told you about the baby." Josh said, clenching to his fist to keep from boiling over with anger. "Besides, we have Anna, Brittany, Sam, and Gemma's parents. And that's just to name a few. And I can't forget to mention Mom is too. So I think we'll have enough people to help us if you ask me." He shot back, looking his father straight in the eyes.

"Sure, you may have some people who will help, but that's not going to be enough. Of course, I wouldn't expect you to know that. If you were ready to raise a child, you would know that it's a lot more difficult than it seems," James replied, rolling his eyes.

"If I recall, you left me to raise Anna before the war. I get that you guys had no other choice, but let me remind you of the fact that I kept her alive. For nearly eighteen years, I've kept her alive. Sure, she wasn't a baby, but I'd say protecting your five year-old sister from Heinrick and his goons is just as difficult a job." Josh spat at his father. His fists clenched a little tighter, and he took a deep breath before speaking up again. "Like I said before, I don't want you anywhere near my girlfriend and my child. So get the hell away from me, and don't even think of trying to criticise me again. If you do, I swear to God nothing will keep me from kicking your ass."

The doctor then came out, calling Gemma and Josh back with her. Gemma stood up and grabbed Josh's hand. "Come on, babe." She said before glaring at James as well. Then without another word they headed back with the doctor, leaving James there by himself.

When they got into the examination room, Gemma and Josh sat down while the doctor grabbed a clipboard. "Hello, Josh and Gemma. How are you doing?" The doctor asked with a kind smile.

Josh took a calming deep breath. "We're doing just fine, thank you." He said, trying to get the recent events off of his mind.

"I'm doing fine as well. I'm excited to see how our baby's doing," Gemma added, smiling and holding one of Josh's hands with one of her own.

"Alright, that good to hear," The doctor said smiling. "We're going to make sure that the baby is healthy. It's a little too early to know whether it's a boy or a girl yet, but we should be able to hear the first heartbeat."

"Really?" Josh asked, his ears perking up when the doctor said that. "That's so cool. What else will be able to see or hear?"

"It's amazing when you hear the heartbeat for the first time." Doctor Williams said with a smile. "I'll get the machine hooked up."

"Thanks," Gemma said with a smile. A few minutes later, the machine was hooked up. "So how does this work?" Gemma asked curiously.

"Well, you're going to lay on this bench we have, and we have to spread a cold gel over you stomach before putting this camera on your stomach to get a proper picture of your baby." She said with a smile. "It's pretty simple and shouldn't take too long."

Gemma nodded her head. "Yeah, that seems simple enough." She laid down on the bench and lifted up her shirt so the gel could be applied. The girl gasped and giggled as the doctor started putting it on. "Wow, that is cold!"

"Don't worry it will pass," Williams said smiling before the image showed up on the screen. "There's your little baby."

Tears welled up in both Josh and Gemma's eyes as they looked at the image on the screen. "That's our baby?" Josh asked, squeezing Gemma's hand.

"It sure is, and it's very healthy too," said Dr. Williams as she displayed the picture on the screen. "And can you hear that? That's the heartbeat."

The room fell silent as the three of them listened for the heartbeat. They couldn't hear anything at first, but eventually they were able to hear the dull, methodical thumping of the baby's heartbeat. "Oh my god. Do you hear that, Josh? It's our baby's heartbeat," Gemma said, smiling as tears of joy fell down her face.

Josh had his eyes on the screen, listening to the heartbeat with a smile on his face as he too began to tear up. "That's our baby's heartbeat," he said, repeating Gemma. "Wow," he wiped a couple tears as his smile grew wider.

"Wow indeed," Gemma said, smiling and wiping her tears as well. She then turned her head, leaning in and kissing Josh. "You and I are going to be amazing parents. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise," she mumbled against his lips.

"I'll give you guys a minute." Dr. Williams said before leaving the room.

Josh smiled and leaned in, kissing his girlfriend again softly. "I've never been so excited for something in my life."

"Neither have I. Sometimes I have to pinch myself just to make sure that I'm not dreaming," Gemma admitted, blushing.

"Sooner or later, we should start thinking of names." Josh said smiling and rubbing her stomach.

"Yeah, we should do that. Did you have any in mind?" Gemma asked curiously.

"Not at the moment. Maybe we should come up with some names we like and then pick one." Josh said smiling. "Besides, we don't have to pick right now, we have plenty of time."

"You're right about that," Gemma said, resting her head on Josh's shoulder. "I can't wait to meet our daughter or son," she murmured softly.

"Neither can I," Josh said before kissing the side of Gemma's head as they watched the display of their child on the screen.

In one of the other rooms, Gina and Sam were keeping each other company while Mateo went to work out. "So, tell me about Chicago before the war." Gina said smiling.

"It was great. I loved living in the city. I mean, we weren't right downtown, but we were pretty close. Looking at the skyline at night was one of my favorite things to do," Sam replied, smiling as she thought of the memory.

"I bet it was absolutely beautiful, with all the stars shining. And the moon reflecting of the skyscrapers." Gina imagined with a smile on her face. "We have beautiful sunsets in McCook, but none of the buildings are even close to making a skyline." She chuckled.

Sam chuckled along with Gina. "Well, you probably got to see more of the sunset because the buildings weren't as tall, so that's a positive," the girl pointed out.

"That is true, but I still wonder what it's like to gaze up the skyline of a major city." Gina said smiling to herself. "I've always wanted to travel the world and see incredible things."

"Once this war is over, I'm sure you'll have the opportunity to travel the world. I could even take you to Chicago and give you a tour if you want," Sam offered.

"I'd be delighted to have you as a tour guide," Gina stated, smiling softly at Sam, which made the girl look away so she could hide the blush spreading across her face.

"Awesome. We'll go once the war is over. Mateo can come too. I'm sure he'd like to see the city," Sam said with a smile.

"Definitely." Gina replied. "I think that's a great idea. Thank you, Sam." She then lay back on her pillow and took a deep breath. "I have to tell you, out of all things I've lost, Layla has to hurt the most. I couldn't have saved my father, but I could've saved her."

"You can't dwell on the past and blame yourself for things you couldn't control. Some of my friends here have done that, and it only made them more miserable. I've never experienced that, but my advice would be to focus on the positives and the future," Sam replied in a soothing voice.

"You have a way with words, Sam." Gina said, smiling and looking down for a moment. "Thank you for staying here with me, it's nice to have someone here to talk to besides my brother." She chuckled.

Sam chuckled along with Gina and then shook her head. "Don't thank me. It's just the right thing to do. I figured you could use a friend right about now," the girl said with a smile.

"Well, I couldn't have asked for a better one." Gina said in genuine voice, reaching out and linking hers and Sam's hands together. Gina smiled at how soft Sam's hands were, and she squeezed them gently. "Thank you, Sam."

"Didn't you listen to me when I said not to thank me?" Sam asked with a chuckle, smiling and squeezing Gina's hands back.

"Obviously not." Gina answered, blushing a little as she said that. "But I do mean it, thank you."

Sam noticed that Gina was blushing and smiled. "I think you got a little something on your face," she teased, making the other girl blush even more.

"Are you purposely trying to make me smile and blush?" Gina asked, trying to cover up her face with her hands so Sam couldn't see her blushing.

"I don't know, am I? If I am, it seems to be working," Sam replied, a smirk tugging at the corner of her mouth. Gina continued to her face with her hand until Sam reached forward and pulled them away, linking their hands together. "Your face is so beautiful, why would you try and hide it?"

"Now I know for a fact that you're trying to make me blush," Gina said, giggling and turning away from Sam. "And I will admit that you're doing a pretty good job of it," she added with a smile.

"Well I'm not saying anything that isn't true," Sam stated, turning Gina back towards her. "I guess I just like seeing you smile."

Gina blushed again and playfully slapped Sam's arm. "Hey! You need to stop making me blush!" She said, smiling and giggling some more.

"I swear that time wasn't on purpose." Sam said, holding her hands up in defense with a laugh. "I won't do it again if it makes you uncomfortable."

"It doesn't make me uncomfortable, it just makes me feel a little embarrassed because you always know what to say," Gina replied, chuckling at Sam.

"It's funny that you say that, because I always feel like I'm spitballing." Sam said, shrugging and blushing a little bit. "I've never really known what I'm supposed to say."

"Maybe that's why you're so good with your words. You don't overthink it too much," Gina said, smiling when Sam blushed. "Looks like it's my turn to say all the right things," she added with a smirk.

"Damn, I was hoping it would be my job to say just what I need to say." Sam stated, feigning a sigh. "I guess we can split it up fifty to fifty."

"That sounds good to me," Gina said with a smile. "Do we have a deal?" She asked, holding her hand out for Sam to shake.

"Sure, we have a deal." Sam replied, shaking Gina's hand and smiling her way. "That won't stop me from trying to make you smile in any way I can."

"Same goes for me. Why don't we have a competition to see who can make the other person smile more?" Gina suggested.

"That sounds like a good challenge to me." Sam stated with a smile on her face. "May the best woman win." She said, winking at Gina with a smug smile on her face.

"If we weren't in a competition, that would've gotten me to blush, but it's not going to be as easy for you now," Gina said, playfully crossing her arms.

"Oh yeah? Prove it," Sam challenged, crossing her arms and raising her eyebrows as she waited.

"I just proved it by not blushing at what you said," Gina said, raising an eyebrow and chuckling at Sam. "What else do you want me to do?"

"Nothing, you don't have to do anything." Sam said, shaking her head. "You need to rest, so you can recover more quickly. I'll watch over Mateo and be his guide throughout the day when he's not visiting you. And once you're back on your feet, I'll do the same for you."

"Thank you, Sam. You've already done so much for me and Mateo, and you keep doing more. I really appreciate it," Gina said, reaching for Sam's hand and taking it in her own hand.

"Well, you've been through so much. You deserve to relax and get better, and Mateo needs someone to show him around. I know this place like the back of my hand." Sam said, smiling softly and running her thumb along the back of Gina's hand. "Really, it's the least I could do."

"Still, It means a lot that you're doing all this for me and my brother," Gina said with a smile. "You're a great person, Sam. I hope you know that."

"So are you. You're so amazing I haven't been able to get you out of my head." Sam said, blushing at her own words and looking down. "When you were asleep, Mateo told me all these incredible things about you. If anyone here is extraordinary, it's you."

Gina couldn't help but blush, and then she bit her lip and cursed a little. "You can't use a line like that! Of course I was going to blush," the girl said, shaking her head and giggling.

"I didn't even intend to make you blush actually, I just couldn't help but be amazed at all the things you've done to protect your brother." Sam said smiling. "Some of the things you've done take some serious guts."

"I can say the same about you. Mateo's told me some of the things that you've done, and saying that I'm impressed is an understatement. You're so brave, Sam. I wish I could be as brave as you," Gina told her genuinely.

"Are you kidding? You're incredibly brave. Don't let anyone tell you anything different." Sam said, bringing Gina's hand up and kissing it before standing up. "I'm gonna go get you some food, I'll be back." She said before walking out to head towards the mess hall.

When Sam was in the mess hall, she ran into Anna, who was getting some food for herself and Brittany. "Hey, Sam, what's up?" The brunette asked her with a smile.

"I'm just getting some food to bring back to Gina, how about you?" Sam asked as she began to get a couple baked potatoes. She also grabbed some salad and chicken to go along the meal she was getting for Gina.

"I'm getting some food for me and Britt," Anna replied, grabbing two plates and putting a bread roll on each. "So, you're spending a lot of time with Gina?"

"I mean sort of, she just woke up yesterday." Sam said smiling. "But yeah I have been, why do you ask?"

Anna shrugged her shoulders. "I was just wondering, that's all," she explained, putting some salad on both plates. "You two seem like you get along really well."

"Yeah, we do. She's really sweet, and funny. She blushes a lot when I talk to her." Sam said with a chuckle.

Anna smiled at this. "I'm glad that you two are getting along really well. It's nice to see you happy, Sam. You deserve it," the brunette told her in a genuine voice.

"I really like her, Anna." Sam added as she pour a glass of water. "And I think she likes me, but I don't want to assume anything. What do you think I should do?" She asked her friend.

"Well, I would give it a little while longer before making a move. If I remember correctly, she used to have a girlfriend, and she's probably not over her yet. Don't rush anything, just let her heal at her own pace. She'll let you know if and when she's ready for a relationship," Anna said.

"Okay," Sam said, nodding her head and taking Anna's advice so she wouldn't screw things up. "How's Brittany?" She asked, grabbing some utensils.

"She's great. We both are, actually. Things have been going really well," Anna said, smiling happily.

"Have Josh and your dad worked things out yet?" Sam asked as they grabbed napkins.

Anna shook her head. "Unfortunately, no. They always argue whenever they see each other. It's gotten to the point where I don't know if they'll ever work things out."

"I'm sorry to hear that." Sam said, biting her lip and looking down. "Well, just think of it this way. There are still seven months till our little niece or nephew is born, hopefully they'll resolve it out by then."

"Honestly, it might get worse when the baby's born. My dad keeps giving Josh shit about being prepared to be a father, and it doesn't seem like he'll stop anytime soon," Anna replied with a sigh.

"I just hope Gemma and Josh don't let him get into their heads. James is the only one who seems to disapprove. They have so many people behind them and ready to help with the baby." Sam mentioned. "Plus, Josh practically raised you on his own."

Anna nodded her head in agreement. "Exactly. That's the point that we're trying to make. Sure, raising a five year-old is different than raising a baby, but acting like Josh is going to be totally clueless when it comes to being a father is just disrespectful and rude."

"Maybe you should try and convince James to apologize." Sam suggested, shrugging her shoulders."You're pretty good at convincing people. Maybe he needs to hear it from you."

Anna thought about Sam's suggestion for a few moments. "That could work. I guess we won't know until I try. I just hope that they work things out eventually, because this has only made everything more stressful."

 **Will Anna convince her father to apologize to Josh and Gemma? Also, it seems love may be around the corner for Sam and Gina.**

 **Until Next Time.**


	35. Chapter 34: Two Months Later

Chapter 34: Two Months Later

"And over here is the cafeteria. This is where all the food is, obviously," Sam said, pointing out the doors to the large room for Gina. It had been two months since the girl had come to the base, and she had been released from the infirmary after recovering from her injury. Sam, Anna, and Brittany were now giving her a tour of the base so she knew where everything was.

"The food is surprisingly good here," Gina said with a chuckle as they walked to through the cafeteria. "How do they do that?" She asked.

"Well, we have a garden just outside," Brittany stated. "A lot of the food comes from there," She mentioned as they moved back into hallway towards the training room. "The training room is pretty amazing too. It's kinda like a major jungle gym," She added with a chuckle.

"Really? Now I wanna check it out," Gina said, chuckling as well. Once they got to the training room, Sam held the door open so they could walk inside. "Wow, it really is a jungle gym in here," Gina said, looking around in awe.

"Yup, and it'll kick your ass," Anna added with a chuckle. "This is where you'll do all of your combat and survival training. It's pretty well-equipped for being set up after the war," She added as they walked around the room.

Gina nodded, looking around at all the workout equipment. "I'll be able to use this now that I've been cleared for all activities?" She said, walking over to the rock climbing wall.

"All of it," Sam smiled as the girl looked around. "It's pretty awesome, isn't it?" She asked once they made their way back to the door. This was their last stop on the tour for Gina. "This place is pretty amazing. We're lucky Heinrick and his men haven't taken it down yet."

"Yeah, it's incredible how they haven't found us yet. I mean, I know this place is hidden pretty well, but I also know that Heinrick doesn't stop until he gets what he wants," Gina commented.

"They did bomb the base a few month ago, but we had enough warning to put shields up and get below," Anna stated as they went back to the cafeteria and got some food. "This base is strong, and even Heinrick's men know we're not to be messed with."

"If they bombed the base before, why haven't they done it again?" Gina asked curiously. "Sure, Heinrick knows that we'll put up a fight, but it's surprising to me that he hasn't tried to make another move."

"He took a trip out of country with most of his men. When he left, a large group of us went and took out his base," Brittany explained as they sat down at a table. "He hasn't retaliated because we basically blew up all of his explosives when we attacked the base. He's attacking these small towns because he doesn't have the firepower to attack us."

"Ah, I see," Gina said, nodding her head in understanding. After a few minutes of silence, the girl spoke up again. "How much longer do you think the war will last?" She asked.

Anna, Brittany and Sam all looked at each other before looking back at Gina. "I think we're in the last stages of it now," Anna stated, taking a bite of an apple slice. "Heinrick and his men have been weakened lately from all of the uproar. I don't know why we haven't done anything yet, but I feel like it's going to be decided soon. Really the only way to stop the fight for good would be-" Anna paused for a moment. "It would be to kill Heinrick. You cut off the head of the snake, there's not much the Healers can do."

"It's a lot harder than it sounds, though. We've had lots of opportunities to kill Heinrick, we just didn't finish the job. We're getting closer to ending the war each day, but we have a lot more to do," Brittany added.

"Well, I'm here to do whatever I can," Gina said, smiling and nodding her head. "I'm a fighter, and so is my brother. We will help you win this war."

"And we're grateful for your help. We're certainly going to need all the help we can get," Sam chimed in, smiling at Gina.

Gemma and Josh walked over and sat down next to them with their plates of food. "Hey guys," said Gemma, who was now three months pregnant. "Gina, how was the tour? What do you think of the base?"

"The base is really cool. I didn't expect it to be so big," the girl replied with a chuckle. "I really liked the training room. There's so many different things you can do there," Gina added.

"It is pretty cool," Josh said, smiling as they sat down and began to eat their food. "We're glad to see you're on your feet and ready to go," He said to Gina, smiling and sipping his water.

"I'm glad to be on my feet and ready to go," Gina said, smiling back at Josh. "Being in the infirmary for so long was pretty boring, but Sam did come visit me a lot, so that was nice," the girl added, blushing a little as she said that, which didn't go unnoticed by Anna and Brittany.

"I just wanted you to have someone to talk to besides a doctor," Sam said, half smiling for a moment, trying her best to not blush in front of everyone as well. "Plus, you're a lot easier to talk to than a lot of the people at this base," She stated honestly.

"Thanks, you're pretty nice to talk to as well," Gina responded, tucking her hair back shyly. "I'm gonna go get some more water," She then got up and walked towards the lines again.

"Dude, Sam," Anna said, raising her eyebrows and smirking. "What was that?"

"What was what?" Sam asked, trying to avoid Anna's question. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"You and Gina were totally just flirting there, Sam!" Gemma said, smiling and giggling as her younger sister turned red.

"No we weren't, you're hallucinating," Sam stated, shaking her head and looking anywhere but into the eyes of the people sitting at their table.

"Mmhm, sure. I saw what I saw," Gemma said, smirking and crossing her arms playfully. "If it makes you feel any better, she was totally flirting back."

"She just lost her girlfriend to the Healers, you guys," Sam said. "I'm just trying to be friendly."

"Maybe, but you two totally are into each other," Gemma said, smiling softly.

"I'll admit that I'm into her, but I don't know if she's into me," Sam replied, scratching the back of her neck.

"Well, you could always ask her at some point," Brittany mentioned, shrugging her shoulders. "But since she has just lost her girlfriend, I'd give it a while. People heal at different paces."

Sam nodded. "Yeah, Anna said the same thing to me. I'm not going to make a move until I'm sure that she's gotten over her girlfriend, and I know that might take awhile, so I won't try to rush anything."

"That's very sweet of you," Gemma said, smiling at her sister. "And just to confirm it, she really is totally into you,"

Sam look around the table at everyone, and they all nodded their heads in agreement with Gemma's previous statement. "You guys really think she's into me?"

"We don't think she's into you, we know she's into you," Anna said with a smile. "Have you seen the way she looks at you?"

"No. How does she look at me?" Sam asked with a confused but secretly excited look on her face.

"She looks at you like I looked at Britt before we were even together," Anna stated, looking over at Brittany, giving her a wide smile.

Sam smiled and looked down, feeling her face heat up as she blushed. "Really?" She asked softly, unable to stop her smile from growing.

"Just give her some time, I think she really likes you," Brittany said, smiling.

Sam smile grew even wider at Brittany's words. "I hope she does. I really like her too," she said.

"Yeah, we know you do," Anna said, making everyone laugh.

"I'm back," Gina announced as she came back and sat down at the table.

"Good to have you back," Anna said before turning to Josh and Gemma. "When is the ultrasound, you two? Are you gonna find out the gender?"

"The ultrasound is later today, and we're actually going to wait to find out the gender," Gemma said, smiling and looking her stomach before she squeezed Josh's hand.

"That's really cool. Why are you guys waiting to find out the gender?" Anna asked curiously.

"We both agreed that it doesn't matter what the gender is, so we decided that we'll wait until the baby is born. Either way, we'll be blessed," Josh said, smiling and rubbing Gemma's stomach softly.

Gemma smiled and watched as Josh gently rubbed her stomach. "You're going to be an incredible father, babe," she said softly, biting her lip cutely.

"And you're going to be a wonderful mother," Josh said in response, smiling at his girlfriend.

Gemma blushed and looked down. "I'm certainly going to try. Our baby deserves to have the best parents in the world."

"And they're going to have the best parents in the world if you ask me," Anna stated with a genuine nod. "Everyone at this table would probably agree with on that one."

"Thanks, guys. Having your support means a lot to us," Josh said, smiling at everyone sitting at the table. "You guys are the best friends that we could ask for," he added.

After lunch, Anna and Brittany went to hang out in Anna's room. They cuddling and making out a little on the bed while also making a little bit of conversation. "Mmmm, you were kicking ass morning at training babe," Anna whispered as Brittany straddled her lap.

"Thanks, babe. So were you," Brittany murmured back, smiling and cupping Anna's face in her hands as they kissed.

One of Anna's hands went up to Britt's sleeve and pulled it down a little, sucking on the skin of her girlfriend's collarbone. "You always catch my eye. Sometimes it's hard for me to focus because you just look so sexy when you train," She said, sucking a little rougher against Brittany's skin, creating a small but visible purple hickey.

"I can same the same thing about you, baby," Brittany whispered, a soft moan falling from her lips when Anna left a hickey on her collarbone.

A playful smirk played at Anna's lips when Brittany let out that small sound of pleasure, and she continued to kiss along the girls shoulder and neck for awhile longer. She then returned her lips to Brittany's and let the girl bite her lip. "I love it when you're on top of me," She mumbled against the blonde's lips.

"And I love it when I'm on top of you," Brittany murmured back, smiling and sliding her tongue into Anna's mouth. Anna's lips opened for Brittany's tongue to explore, her hands still resting on Britt's sides.

"I need to take this off," Anna whispered, pulling Brittany's shirt over her head. The blonde lifted her arms up so the brunette could get her shirt off easier, reconnecting their lips once her shirt was off.

"Mmm, I love kissing you," Brittany mumbled, smiling into the kiss.

"You're so sexy," Anna whispered, slipping her tongue into Brittany's mouth. Her hands softly dug into Britt's waist. She then moved one hand up the blonde's neck, turning her girlfriend's head to one side so she could start to place an open-mouth kiss on the girl's tender skin.

"Shit," Brittany groaned, pushing Anna's head down closer to her skin. "That feels so good, baby. Keep doing that."

"Say my name," Anna whispered huskily, tugging on Britt's earlobe before kissing the backside of her ear. Her hand went under Britt's bra.

"Mmm, Anna," Brittany moaned softly, her breath hitching as Anna's hands began to roam all over her body.

Anna's other hand slipped into Brittany's shorts, just running her hand along the girl's inner thigh as she continued to place kisses on the girls chest and neck. "Your skin is so smooth," she mumbled, caressing Brittany's leg with love and care.

All Brittany could do was moan in response, trying to stay as quiet as she could. "Fuck, Anna," she groaned through gritted teeth. "Do you have any idea what you're doing to me right now?"

"I do have a pretty good idea," the brunette mumbled in Britt's ear. Anna began massaging the skin of Britt's leg before reconnection their lips in a fiery kiss.

"Mmm, keep doing that," Brittany murmured softly against her girlfriend's lips. "You're so good to me, baby. I'm so lucky to have you," the blonde whispered.

Anna's lips detached from Brittany's and then she tucked the girl's hair away from her face. The brunette then leaned down and began kissing her neck once more, leaving both gentle pecks and open-mouthed smooches against the girl's skin. "I love you so much," said the older girl as their bodies molded into one.

"I love you too, babe," Brittany murmured back, closing her eyes and sighing with content as Anna's lips traveled all over her skin. Anna continued to move her lips along the blonde girls skin, and she continued to run her hand along Britt's inner thigh.

Anna then picked Brittany up and unclipped her bra, letting it fall to the floor. "How are you so damn beautiful?" She said, chuckling in awe of her girlfriend's body.

"Have you asked yourself that question?" Brittany asked, smiling and giggling a little. "You're the most beautiful person in the world, baby," the blonde added, smiling and gazing into the brunette's eyes.

"You see, that may be your truth. But in my eyes, you're the most beautiful, Britt. You're the one who makes my heart stop, or beat dangerously fast," Anna mumbled as she kissed along the girls stomach and then back up to her neck, leaving on small hickey on her weak spot. "You take my breath away, babe."

Brittany blushed and looked down, her smile growing. "I can say the same about you, babe. I'm so glad that we met. I don't know what I'd do without you."

"Well, if we'd never met, I'd probably still be a virgin and you probably wouldn't be having steamy...hot...passionate sex," Anna mumbled, leaving sensual kisses along Brittany's skin as she spoke.

Brittany giggled at Anna's comment. "That is true. You love steamy, hot, passionate sex, don't you?" She asked, raising an eyebrow and smirking.

"How could I not love it? I have the sexiest girlfriend in the entire world," Anna mentioned before kissing down the girl's chest and massaging her inner thigh gently.

These words made Brittany blush and the smirk on her face grew. "I appreciate the compliment, but I happen to think that I have the sexiest girlfriend in the entire world."

"Are you trying to challenge me? Because I can prove that it's you," Anna stated confidently as she continued to touch Brittany's body in a soothing manner.

"Well, I wasn't, but you can try to prove it to me if you want," Brittany said, smiling and running her fingers through Anna's hair.

A smirk stretched across Anna's face. "Challenge accepted," She mumbled, removing Brittany's shorts from her body completely before pinning her hands to the bed. Her lips moved further down and were now on Britt's stomach, sucking a few hickeys into her lover's perfectly smooth skin.

Brittany moaned instantly, surprised but pleased by Anna's actions. "Shit," she muttered under her breath, pushing Anna's head down closer to her skin. "You're taking this challenge seriously, aren't you?" She added with a low chuckle.

Anna answered by kissing up and down both of her thighs numerous times, knowing Brittany loved the sensation it gave her. "I'll always take it seriously if it means pleasuring my beautiful girlfriend," Anna mentioned, sucking a hickey into Brittany's skin on her inner thigh.

Brittany moaned once more, her breath hitching a little when Anna left a hickey on her skin. "Shit, baby, how are you so good at this?" The blonde girl muttered, biting down on her lip to keep herself from moaning again.

"I guess I just know what you like baby," Anna mentioned before slowly pulling Britt's underwear off her legs, leaving the girl naked.

Brittany brought Anna's hand towards her core, her hips bucking in that direction as well. "I need you so bad, baby," the blonde whimpered.

Anna began to trace circles on Britt's folds, smirking when she noticed how wet Brittany was for her. The brunette used her thumb to rub her girlfriends clit, knowing that it would give her some very good sensations. "How does that feel babe?"

Brittany was so focused on the pleasure that Anna was giving her that she couldn't form words, instead moaning to reply to Anna's question. The blonde whimpered for more, bucking her hips towards the brunette.

Next, Anna slipped her middle and pointer finger inside of Britt's core while continuing to rub her clit perfectly. "Shit, you're so wet."

"I can't help what you do to me, babe," Brittany moaned, throwing her head back against the pillows of the bed.

"You're so sexy," Anna whispered with a smile on her face, leaning down to kiss Brittany's lips before she began to thrust in and out of the girl's core at a pleasurable pace.

"Oh my god!" Brittany cried out, biting down on her lip and tugging at the ends of Anna's hair as they kissed. "Fuck, baby! I need more!"

"Tell me, baby. Tell me what your body craves," Anna mentioned, tugging at Brittany's bottom lip with her teeth before picking up her fingers pace while her thumb rubbed harder and tighter circles on Britt's wet clit.

"My body craves you, Anna. I need you so badly. Give me all you can," Brittany whimpered, longing for more contact and pleasure.

To increase Brittany's pleasure, Anna removed her hand from her girlfriends core and then brought her knee up. She began to grind against the girl's bundle of nerves, a huge smile appearing on her face as she listened to Brittany's constant moans. Anna then moved her lips back to Brittany's neck while her knee created pleasure for Brittany. "How's that baby?"

"So good, baby. So good," Brittany murmured, struggling to catch her breath as another moan rose up in her throat.

"Oh baby, it's so hot when you moan for me," Anna then rammed a little harder to make Brittany moan more. She knew just how she was going to give the girl an epic orgasm. "Hold it in baby, I know you can."

Brittany bit down on her lip, trying her hardest to hold off her orgasm. "I can't hold it off for much longer, Anna," the blonde murmured, closing her eyes and moaning.

That's when Anna swooped down and began giving her oral, flicking her tongue on girl's folds. "Mmmmm, so tasty," She moaned, creating vibrations against her lover's core. She then sucked on the girl's clit as she pushed two fingers inside of her to give her the ultimate pleasure experience.

"Fucking hell! Anna!" Brittany screamed, finally reaching her climax. The blonde yelled Anna's name a couple more times, pushing the brunette's head impossibly closer to her core as an orgasm ripped through her body, causing her to tremble.

"You're so sexy," Anna said, sneaking her tongue inside Brittany as she held her down against the bed, tasting as much as she could. After she cleaned up Brittany's core, Anna sucked a trail of hickeys up her body and kissed her lips. "You are my favorite thing to eat baby, fuck," She murmured. "Fuck, you taste so good."

Brittany's chest heaved as she tried to catch her breath from the intense pleasure Anna had just given her. "Fuck, baby," the blonde whispered, chuckling. "You're so good."

"On a scale of one to ten, one being the worst and ten being the best sex of your life. Where did that rank?" Anna asked with a chuckle, kissing the blondes neck softly as they both caught their breath.

"Hmm," Brittany said, furrowing her eyebrows in a cute way as she thought about Anna's question. "I'd have to say that was either an eight or a nine. The reason I say that is I know you'll always find a way to up your game," the blonde told her, blushing a little as she said that.

"I like that answer," Anna smirked and kissed her lover's neck one more time before returning back to her lips. "Fuck, you're so hot."

"Not as hot as you, babe. You turn me on so much," Brittany replied, smiling and sighing in content when their lips connected.

"And don't you know that you do the same to me?" Anna asked, taking Britt's hand and leading it down her body. She then placed Britt's hand on her covered core so she could feel the heat coming off of her. "You turn me on, Britt. You turn me on so fucking much," She whispered in a raspy and deep voice.

Brittany smirked as she felt how wet Anna already was. "Damn, baby. You're already this worked up?" She asked. "I haven't even really done anything."

"Listening to you during sex is enough to turn me on baby," Anna mentioned, smirking back at her girlfriend. "It's like I said, you're the sexiest woman on Earth. And I think I just proved that to you."

"Well, since you got a chance to prove that I'm the sexiest woman on Earth, can I have a chance to prove that you're the sexiest woman on earth?" Brittany asked, raising her eyebrows suggestively.

"Yes you do, but fair warning, I will always think that you're the sexiest woman on earth," Anna said, smiling smugly at her girlfriend.

"You might reconsider that statement after this," Brittany replied, leaning forward and kissing Anna roughly.

Anna smiled into the kiss and held Brittany down against her body, whimpering softly into the girl's mouth when the girl began to grind on her.

"Do you like this?" Brittany asked, grinding her hips into Anna's to create friction between their bodies. "Because if you do, I'll keep doing it."

"Fuck, Britt," Anna groaned, grabbing her girlfriend's ass as their bodies rammed against each other. "I love it."

"That's what I thought," Brittany purred in Anna's ear, continuing to grind their hips together. The blonde then leaned down and kissed Anna's lips roughly, tugging at the brunette's bottom lip with her teeth.

About fifteen minutes later, the two of them were tangled in the covers, their chests heaving and their bodies intertwined with one another. "Shit, Brittany," Beca said, chuckling a little bit as she caught her breath. She wiped the sweat from her forehead and with her free hand, her other arm was wrapped around Brittany as the blonde lay on her stomach, her head resting on her hands atop Anna's abs. "That was fucking incredible."

"Did I do a good job of proving to you that you're the sexiest woman on Earth?" Brittany asked, smiling and running her fingers up and down Anna's toned stomach.

Anna chuckled at her girlfriends comment, absentmindedly running her fingers through Brittany's beautiful blonde hair. "I thought you made a very good case, but you will always be my sexiest woman on earth. We don't have to agree on everything, you know?" Anna said, laughing a little bit more before looking at Britt, and tucking some blonde hair away from her face. "What matters most is that we love each other."

"We love each other very, very much," Brittany murmured, smiling and then leaning in to kiss Anna. "I've never loved anyone like I love you," the blonde mumbled against the brunette's lips.

"Right back at you baby," Anna replied, smiling as their lips gently pulled apart. "Let's get some rest, it's late."

The the next morning, the two girls were laying in bed with each other. Anna smiled at Brittany as the girl slept in her arms. The brunette however had been up for an hour or so, trying to contemplate how she would confront her father about the situation that had been keeping their family apart for two months. How was she going to convince him to apologize to Josh and to give him a chance to prove he's ready to be a father?

A little while later, Anna got up from the bed and started pacing around the room, still thinking of what she should do. "This shouldn't be that hard," the brunette muttered to herself, sighing and running her fingers through her hair.

The shift in the bed made Brittany wake up slowly. Once her eyes were open, she noticed Anna pacing around the room. "Babe, what are you doing? It's 6:30 in the morning," She asked, rubbing her eyes.

"Sorry for waking you up. I just have a lot on my mind, that's all," Anna said, walking back over to the bed and sitting down.

"Come here," Brittany said, pulling Anna to lay back down with her. "We still have an hour before we are expected to get up, don't let your thoughts trouble you until then," She mumbled, kissing Anna softly.

Anna smiled and leaned into the kiss, sighing softly with content. "You always help me calm down whenever I'm stressed."

"That is part of my job as your girlfriend, Anna," Brittany said with a chuckle before pecking her girlfriend's lips once more. She then wrapped her arms around Anna's shoulders and pulled her close. "Just focus on us right now okay? Whatever is troubling you, we'll deal with it later. Right now, it's too early to think about problems," She said, kissing Anna once more.

"You're right. It is too early to be thinking about problems," Anna said, chuckling as well before they kissed again. "I love you so much, Britt. So, so much," the brunette murmured against the blonde's lips.

"I love you too, babe. More than anything," Brittany mumbled against her girlfriend's lips.

The kiss grew heated as it continued, Anna moving her lips to Brittany's neck at one point and leaving a few hickeys on her skin. "Is this okay, baby?" She whispered softly.

"It's perfect," Brittany murmured back, holding Anna's head against her neck with one hand while the other rested on the girl's hip.

"Okay. I just wanted to make sure," Anna replied, continuing to leave hickeys and kisses on Brittany's neck.

Just as Brittany was about to let out a moan, an announcement came over the intercom. Terry's voice blared through the speakers.

"Code red! Code red!" She called out in a frightening tone. "We have just received intel that Heinrick and his troops are on their way! All able soldiers report to the weaponry! I repeat: all able soldiers to the weaponry now! Those who in the hospital wing and those with young children, head down to the bunkers immediately! Prepare for battle!"

"Shit, that's not good," Anna said, immediately getting off of Brittany. The two of them quickly got dressed and headed to the weaponry, where they were instantly met by Terry.

"Grab as many weapons that you can. Make sure they won't slow you down," the older woman ordered, gesturing towards the many racks of guns and other weapons.

Anna and Brittany immediately put on some bulletproof vests and other protections to make sure they would be hard to take down. Brittany grabbed some throwing knives and a crossbow, making sure she grabbed at least two hundred arrows for the crossbow.

Anna grabbed a couple throwing knives and a gun, putting some extra ammo in her pockets. She looked over at Brittany and smiled to calm the blonde's nerves. "It's gonna be okay, babe," the brunette said, taking her hand and squeezing it gently.

"I know, I know," Brittany answered, squeezing Anna's hand. She then grabbed a couple grenades, and so did Anna. "What weapons are you grabbing?" Brittany asked as her braided her hair so it couldn't get in her way during the battle.

"I've got knives, grenades, and this bad boy right here," Anna said, gesturing to her gun and chuckling. "What about you?"

"I've got a crossbow, some grenades, and also about five throwing knives," Brittany answered, sitting down so she could braid Anna's hair for her. "How are you feeling?" She asked.

"I'm a bit nervous, if I'm being honest. We had no idea this was coming. But I'll manage," Anna replied, smiling as Brittany began to braid her hair.

Brittany saw Josh, Lucas, Skylar, Dale, Ester, Meleike, Sam, and Gina walk into the room together, but she didn't see Gemma. "Hey guys, is Gemma down in the bunker?"

Josh nodded. "Yeah, I made sure she got in the bunker before coming back up here," he told Brittany.

"Good, because she's carrying precious cargo," Anna said, standing up and walking to her brother, giving him a hug. "Go get ready, there are protective uniforms over by the grenades."

Josh went over and put on a bulletproof vest, grabbing some weapons as well before returning to the group. "So what now? Are we going to go into battle or what?" He asked.

"We are, Josh. Just be patient," Terry said, stepping forward to the front of the room. Once she turned around, she looked at all the soldiers in the room. "One thousand-three-hundred-twenty-nine," She stated simply. "This is the number of soldiers we have today. While it is a lot, we are outnumbered ten to one. But I will be damned if we surrender to Heinrick and his forces," She said, receiving some cheers. "For too long, Heinrick and the Freedom Healers have in charge. For too long, have innocent people suffered at their hands. For too long, our people have lived in fear. We will fight not to destroy the things we hate, for that is what Heinrick and his men stand for. We will fight to save the things we love most."

Terry was given a round of applause by the soldiers after she finished her inspiring speech. "We may be outnumbered, but we are not to be underestimated. We will show Heinrick that he will no longer be a tyrannical dictator, and that the rule of the Freedom Healers can and will come to an end!" She declared, getting even more applause and cheering from the soldiers. "I wish you all to be safe, and that you will give everything you have. Godspeed."

The group of friends then turned to each other, and got in a group huddle. They held each other close, not saying a thing for a moment. "I love you guys," Skylar said, being the first to speak out of all of them.

"I second that," Dale said, raising her hand. "You guys have become my family, and I wouldn't rather have anyone else be my family."

"Whatever happens, you guys will always be in my heart," Brittany mentioned, wiping a couple tears. "I never thought I would find anyone who would accept me. I love you guys."

Anna smiled and leaned in to give Chloe a kiss on the cheek. "No matter what happens out there, I love you," she whispered in her girlfriend's ear.

"I love you too," Brittany whispered.

After their little circle, Josh headed out of the weaponry. He needed to see Gemma one more time before the battle started. He made it just before she started going down the stairs. "Gemma!" He called out. "Gemma, wait!"

Gemma turned around when she heard someone calling her name. A concerned look appeared on her face when she saw Josh. "Josh? Is everything okay?"

"I just had to see you one more time before I went off to fight," Josh said, pulling her into a strong embrace. He held on tight, as if he was never going to let go. Josh didn't know when and if he'd see Gemma again, and he wanted a proper farewell if this was the last time. "I love you, so, so much."

"I love you too, Josh," Gemma whispered back, a few tears falling down her face as they embraced. "We're gonna see each other again. This isn't goodbye. This is just a 'see you later.'"

"I want you to have this, in case I don't make it out," Josh lifted his chain necklace with a golden ring on it. He had always worn it around his neck, and now he was giving it to Gemma. "I'm always with you, alright?"

Tears were now flowing down Gemma's face, and she took the necklace from Josh. "And I'm always with you," she said, pulling Josh into another embrace.

Josh held on tightly, pressing a kiss to her forehead. He then pulled her into a kiss, making sure that she knew how much he loved her.

James, who had been isolated from his son lately, saw this whole exchange as he walked towards the main hangar where they were all meeting and he overheard what Josh and Gemma were saying to each other.

"I love you, and I'm going to do everything I can to make it back to you and our little boy," Josh said, smiling as best he could. They had found out the gender of their baby at their appointment earlier that week. "I promise."

"I know you'll come back to us, Josh. You have to," Gemma said, smiling and looking down at her stomach before looking back up at her boyfriend. "Our little boy needs you to come back. I need you to come back."

"I'll come back, Gemma," Josh said one last time before he heard everyone making their way to the main hangar. "I have to go, okay? I love you," he said before Gemma pulled him into one last kiss.

"I love you. Be safe," Gemma called after Josh as she watched him head to the main hangar. She then turned and continued down the stairs to the bunker.

James turned away as soon as Josh had turned around to head to the hangar, walking beside a few other soldiers. He then felt a sudden pang of guilt hit him in the stomach. He knew how horrible he'd been to Josh and Gemma, but he had been too proud to say anything. Still, he couldn't stand the thought of either of them dying while they were still on bad terms.

Once they were in the main hangar and got in their ranks, James made his way over to his son. "Josh!" He called out to get his son's attention.

Josh turned when he heard his name, and he frowned when he saw his father walking towards him. "What do you want?" He asked, crossing his arms.

"I don't want to fight, son. That's not why I'm here," James stated calmly, standing there with his hands at his sides. "I just wanted to apologize, for treating you Gemma the way I have. You didn't deserve it, and I was a complete and total jackass to you."

"Well, I see you finally got your head out of your ass to see that," Josh remarked stubbornly, still angry at his father for how he had treated him and Gemma.

"A part of me still hurts because I never really got to watch you and Anna grow up. It was hard for me to let that go, and when you and Gemma said that you were going to have a baby together, I realized how much of yours and your sister's life that I had missed," James said, feeling his eyes heat up with a couple tears. "And I know that is no excuse for treating you the way I did, so I will keep telling you…" He paused for a moment to wipe a fallen tear and take a deep breath. "... I will keep telling you how sorry I am until you forgive me. And even if you never do, I just want you to know how much I love you Josh."

Josh stood there for a few moments as he comprehended what his father had said. Then, tears started welling up in his eyes, a couple falling before he could stop them. "I missed you so much, Dad," he said, trying not to get choked up. "Growing up without you was so hard. I missed you and Mom so much, but I couldn't show it because I had to be strong for Anna."

James took his son into a strong hug, holding him close. "You don't always have to be the brave one, you know?" He whispered, kissing the side of his son's head. "It's okay to be vulnerable sometimes."

"I'm so used to it from taking care of Anna. I couldn't ever be weak around her—I had to be strong," Josh said, closing his eyes as more tears threatened to fall.

"And you were, but you raised Anna to take care of herself. I couldn't be more proud of you," James stated, holding his son awhile longer. He then said the words he should've said a long time ago. "And I think you're going to be an amazing father."

Josh blinked a couple times, not sure if he had heard his father correctly. Then, a huge smile appeared on his face. "Do you really mean that?" He asked.

"Yes," James said smiling. "And that means you gotta fight as hard as you can to make it back to Gemma. I don't want you miss out on raising your child like I did," He stayed before an announcement was made that sent shivers down everyone's spine.

Terry stood at the front of the army, and cleared her throat. "It's time for battle."

The soldiers looked at one another nervously. Anna grabbed Brittany's hand and squeezed it gently. "I love you, baby," she murmured softly, looking into the blonde's eyes.

Brittany took a deep breath and squeezed Anna's hand. "I love you too."

 **So, this is it. Who will survive? And will they defeat Heinrick? It's tough to say, but hopefully they will. Stay tuned!**

 **Until next time**


	36. Chapter 35: The Last Battle

Chapter 35: The Last Battle

The army marched out to their positions, splitting up into different groups once they got out there. Terry stood at the frontlines, and dreadful silence hung in the humid, morning May air. They couldn't see Heinrick's army yet, but they knew it was only a matter of time before they made their way over the hill.

Brittany and Anna were in the same group, and the brunette looked over at her blonde girlfriend, seeing both nervousness and concentration on her face. "This is it, babe," Anna said to her, taking a deep breath and looking down at the ground.

The blonde girl also let out a deep breath before nodding her head. "I really hope we can get him," She said, referring to Heinrick. Her heartbeat was a little faster than normal. "I want to be the one to take him out if we get the chance."

"Are you sure?" Anna asked. "I mean, I know you can take him out, but are you sure that you want to?"

"Yes, I want to," Brittany said firmly, holding the strap of her crossbow. "It's time he pays for what he did; and if we can take him out, think of the burden that will be lifted off of all these people's shoulders."

"Just be careful, okay? I don't want you taking him on by yourself. I can't lose you, Britt," Anna said, looking into Brittany's eyes.

"You won't lose me. I've never been more prepared to take him on than I am today," Brittany said, leaning over and kissing Anna's cheek.

"Still, I don't want you to take him on alone. It's more for my reassurance than it is me doubting that you can handle him," Anna told her, smiling softly when Brittany kissed her cheek.

"I won't take him on alone," Brittany said, just to assure Anna. Though in her heart, she knew she would take him on if she got the chance, even if she was alone.

"Thank you. Now I feel a lot less nervous," Anna said with a chuckle, leaning over and giving Brittany a peck on the lips.

Suddenly they hear the sound of a deep drum, coming from just over the hill. Brittany had heard that drum before, they played it whenever new prisoners were brought to the camps. "They're here," She said.

Anna clenched her jaw and gripped onto her gun, standing straight and tall as the soldiers waited for Heinrick's army to arrive. Anna closed her eyes for a moment, taking a few deep breaths to calm herself down.

This was it. This is where it all would end, and hopefully for the better. Soon, they saw Heinrick walking with the front line of his soldiers over the top of the hill. When Anna was able to get a rough count, she saw over five thousand soldiers. They were outnumbered, five to one, but that wasn't going to stop them. "They've got a lot of soldiers," Anna murmured to Brittany, glancing over at her before turning her attention back to the army marching towards them.

Britt took a step closer and took Anna's hand in her own, giving it a soft and loving squeeze. "No matter what happens out here, just know I love you," She said as the army stopped about two hundred feet from base.

In the bunkers, Joan was tending to those who were injured in addition to keeping an eye on Gemma. "How are you feeling, Gemma?" The older woman asked, walking over to her son's girlfriend.

"My whole family is up there, so I'm pretty nervous," Gemma said, wiping a tear. "Josh is up there," she said, trying to keep it together as she held his necklace.

Joan nodded and then took one of Gemma's hands, squeezing it gently. "He'll be alright. He's going to do whatever he can to come back to you, and he will come back to you."

"I really hope you're right, because I don't want our child to grow up without a father," Gemma stated, leaning her head on Joan's shoulder. "I'm scared, Joan."

"I am too, if I'm being honest. And we have every right to be scared. What we can't do is let our fear take away our hope," Joan replied. Gemma held onto Joan as they stayed there and waited for the battle to begin.

Heinrick walked towards the open field and so did Terry. They stopped about forty yards from each other and nodded at each other as if to signal they were ready for battle. Then, they turned around and walked back towards their respective soldiers.

The anticipation was building, and Anna shifted her weight from one foot to another. She bit down on her lip, feeling her hands and legs trembling due to her nervousness. She watched as Heinrick gave the order for his soldiers to attack, and then Terry held her arm up for the archers.

Her fist clenched and then people on top of the base shot their arrows, hitting Healers as they got close, giving the front line time to get ready. Anna looked over at Brittany, who looked back at her. "I love you. Let's do this," the brunette said, taking a deep breath and then turning her attention back towards the battlefield. As the archers continued shooting arrows at the Healers, the soldiers in the front line started moving forward, firing their weapons and giving the archers time to grab more arrows if they needed them.

Skylar and Meleike were at the front lines, and they held their weapons up. "Let's fuck up their shit," Skylar said.

Meleike chuckled at Skylar's words and then nodded his head. "Yeah, let's do that," he replied.

The two men marched and got their weapons ready. As Heinrick's men began to clash with Terry's, you could feel the tension in the air rise. Soldiers from both sides started dropping instantly.

As the front lines of the armies fought, the next lines of soldiers ran forward as well. Anna turned and ran into the forest, hoping to sneak up on some unsuspecting Healers and take them down.

Josh saw his sister running towards the forest and figured out what she was doing, turning and running to the other side of the wooded area in the hopes that he could do the same. He snuck around some of his fellow soldiers, making it to the cover of the trees with ease. Josh traveled quickly through the woods, keeping an eye on the battlefield as he did so. He also periodically looked behind him to make sure that nobody was following him.

Anna saw her brother and made her way towards him. "You think what I'm thinking?" She asked, smiling at her brother.

Josh smiled back at Anna and shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know. What are you thinking?" He asked.

"We need to a way to set up a bomb," Anna pulled out a device that she got from the weaponry. "If we set this off, it'll cause a shit ton of damage to Heinrick's fleet."

"Good thinking," Josh said. "But how and where are we going to set up the bomb?" He asked.

"That's what I'm still trying to figure out," Anna said, tapping her foot a little bit. She then looked at the trees around them and how tall they were. "You've always been good at climbing trees. We need to find one close to the battlefield. Once you climb to the top and over the area, you choose the best spot. Then you'll start the timer and throw the bomb towards the back lines of Heinricks soldiers. It has a fifteen second timer, so don't start it until you're in position."

Josh nodded and then took the grenades from Anna before turning to the nearest tree and beginning to climb it. Soon, he was at the top of the tree and had a perfect vantage point. He could see the whole battlefield from up there.

"Just remember to throw the bombs at the back lines," Anna called up towards him. "You've got a strong arm. You can do it. We just don't want to throw them near our soldiers."

Josh nodded and climbed up even higher in the tree. He held one of the grenades, looking over at the back lines of Heinrick's army. While he did have a strong arm, the back lines were pretty far away. "I'm not sure I'll be able to throw the grenade all the way to the back lines," he called down to his sister.

"Just get it to a spot where we don't have any soldiers," Anna said, having confidence in her brother. "You don't have to get it to the back lines. Just take out some of his soldiers."

Josh nodded and then looked back out a the battlefield, scanning the area for a place where there was only Healer soldiers. Once he found a place, he activated the grenade and then threw it as far as he could.

He threw it to the perfect spot, knocking away at least five-hundred Healers. "Shit, that's a powerful grenade," he said to himself, throwing another grenade towards another large group of Healers. "We can take out a lot of them with these."

"Keep throwing them, they're powerful enough to knock out a lot of them," Anna said smirking up at her brother.

Josh threw a couple more grenades before climbing down from the tree. "We should probably head to another location. The Healers will probably figure out where the grenades have been coming from sooner rather than later," he said.

Anna nodded and then ran about a thousand feet closer to the back line of Heinrick's army. "I certainly hope things at the front line are going well."

Brittany was at her post with Sam and Gina. She had her crossbow out and was shooting Healers left and right. Every now and then, she would look for Heinrick to see if she could spot him in the crowd of Healers and rebels alike.

"Brittany, there are a couple Healers coming up to your left!" Sam called out to her friend as she aimed at some Healers that were approaching from the opposite side.

The blonde girl turned and took out one of her knives, taking each of them on and defeating them with ease before shooting a couple arrows at some more Healers when they neared her or her fellow soldiers. "Gina, duck!" She yelled out before shooting an arrow at a Healer, hitting him square in the chest after Gina had ducked out of the way.

"Thanks, Britt. I owe you one," Gina said, smiling gratefully at the blonde as she stood back up. Gina then took on a few Healers with Sam as Brittany focused on taking out some of the Healers further back.

Meanwhile, Skylar and Meleike were wreaking havoc at the front line. They were heavily outnumbered by the Healers but were taking out soldiers left and right. They were a great team, those two. It was almost as if they'd been fighting together side-by-side for years.

Skylar took out a couple of Healers before getting to one that was coming up behind Meleike. "Thanks," Meleike called out to his friend, turning and taking out some Healers that were coming up behind Skylar.

"Right back at you," Skylar called out.

This was a bloody battle, people from both sides dropping every second. It was to tell which way this was going to end.

Josh had found a new vantage point in a different tree and was now throwing more grenades at Heinrick's soldiers. After he threw his last grenade, he looked down to Anna. "Do you have any more grenades on you?" He asked.

"I have three more," Anna said, motioning for Josh to come down so they could move to a new spot and throw the last three.

Josh began to climb down the tree. As he was doing so, he heard a gunshot from nearby. "Shit, we better get moving!" He said, jumping down to the ground and starting to run in the opposite direction from where the gunshot sound had come from.

Anna nodded and they ran back towards their army, seeing as the gunshot came from the Healers side of the forest. Her heart rate went up when she heard another gunshot. "Keep running!" She said as they quickly made their way back to their side.

The young brunette then looked around and saw all of the fallen soldiers on their side. "Shit, Josh! They've killed so many of our soldiers!" The brunette exclaimed, running her fingers through her hair. "We've got to keep moving. The Healers aren't far behind us," she added. She then saw a familiar face in the crowd, Gina's brother.

Mateo was struggling against two Healer soldiers, so Anna began rushing over to help him. She pulled one of the Healers away from him and stabbed him with a knife she had. As she was turning around, her eyes filled with horror.

The other Healer had stabbed Mateo multiple times, and the young boy fell to the ground. Anna's hand clenched around her knife and she ran at the Healer. The brunette jumped on top of the soldier and began stabbing him. She lost count of how many times she did so, only stopping when she get the soldier go limp.

Anna got off of the Healer and then kneeled down by Mateo. "It's okay, Mateo. I'm gonna save you. You're gonna be okay," the brunette told him, putting pressure on his wounds with her hands to stop the bleeding.

"I-I," Mateo coughed a little bit, feeling blood come out of his lips. "I c-can't f-feel anything," He cried, knowing what was happening. "Where's my sister? W-where's Gina? I-Is she ok-kay?" He asked, feeling his vision begin to fade slowly.

"Gina's okay, Mateo. Keep your eyes open for me and I'll make sure you get to see her again," Anna said, pressing down harder with her hands. The brunette then looked around for Gina, searching through the crowd of people. _Where are you, Gina?_ She thought to herself.

Blood kept coming out of Mateo, and Anna kept trying to stop the bleeding. When Anna finally caught site of Gina, she called out to her. "Gina! Gina!" She yelled as she brought Mateo towards the edge of their base to safety. "It's Mateo!"

A look of concern immediately appeared on Gina's face. "Mateo? What's wrong? Did something happen?" She asked. The girl then saw that Anna was carrying her brother, and that he was bleeding badly. "Oh my god!"

"I tried to save him, I'm so sorry," Anna said, trying to keep pressure on the wounds. "They were crowding around him and I wasn't fast enough, I-I'm so sorry," She said as Mateo grabbed a hold of his sister.

"Gina?" Mateo said, unable to move very much at this point. He could see his older sister, who was kneeling down to the ground as she held him. "Are you okay?" He asked, reaching up to touch her face.

"Yeah, I'm okay," Gina said, a half-smile on her face. "What happened to you, Mateo?" She asked, looking at her brother's blood-stained shirt.

"Healers got me," Mateo said, wincing a little. "Gina, c-can you just hold me f-for a moment?" He said as life drained from his body. "I'm sorry I couldn't take care of myself," he said.

Gina shook her head. "No, don't apologize. I should've been there with you. I should've protected you. This is my fault, not yours."

"Gina, don't blame yours-self," Mateo said before rest his face in the crook of her neck. He began to cry softly as he began to go pale. "I don't want to go, sis," He said, crying softly.

"I know, Mateo. I don't want you to go either," Gina said, now crying as well. "Just try to keep your eyes open. Can you do that for me?" She asked.

"C-can you just hold me?" He asked, his breathing slowing down. "I just want to hear you," he said, realizing this was it for him his pain began to fade away.

Gina nodded and held Mateo in her arms, slowly rocking him back and forth. "I've got you, Mateo. I've got you," she murmured to him, unsuccessfully trying to keep her tears from falling.

"You keep fighting for me, sis," Mateo said, knowing he would be taking his final breath soon. He looked into his sister's eyes. "Love you, Gina," he said as he took his last breath, going limp in his sister's arms and closing his eyes for the last time.

Gina blinked a couple times, looking down at her brother's lifeless body. "Mateo?" She said, shaking him by the shoulders. "Mateo, wake up. Wake up!"

Sam had just taken out a couple soldiers and then looked around for Gina. She turned around and saw the girl holding her brother's limp body. "Oh shit," she said, taking out another soldier and then running back to Gina.

Mateo lay there in his sister's arms, a peaceful look on his face as he was finally at rest. Sam kneeled down beside him took his pulse, but she felt nothing. "He's gone, Gina," she said, trying to not tear up.

Gina shook her head. "No, he can't be gone," she said. "He can't be gone. He's my baby brother. He can't be gone," she repeated over and over again.

"Gina," Sam said, trying to get the girl's attention. "Gina, we have to help them," she stated, referring to their fellow soldiers. "Gina, look at me," Sam said, cupping the girl's cheeks and turning her head so they were face-to-face. Her instincts got the best of her and she pressed a kiss against Gina's lips. She stayed there for a moment before pulling back even though she didn't want to. "Fight for him so he didn't die for nothing," she said, leaning their foreheads together.

Gina was in a daze after Sam kissed her, her eyes wide and tears still falling down her cheeks. A few minutes passed before she spoke. "I was supposed to protect him. I was supposed to make sure he didn't get hurt. Now he's dead because I didn't do my job."

"It's not your fault, Gina," Sam said, using her thumb to wipe the girl's tears. "He made his choice to fight for what he believed in, and he died a hero," she said, hoping her words would motivate Gina. "We can't mourn for him now, but we can fight for him."

Gina sniffled a little more and wiped away the rest of her tears with her shirt. "Okay. What do you want me to do?" She said, looking down and trying not to cry more.

"Take a couple deep breaths," Sam said, tucking small strand of hair from the girl's face. "Stand up, be strong, and unleash your wrath on these assholes," She stated with a firm look on her face. "Show them what happens when they mess with your family."

Gina nodded and then closed her eyes, taking a few deep breaths to calm herself. she then opened her eyes and clenched her jaw. "I'm ready. Let's do this."

"Sorry if I took a step too far by kissing you," Sam said with an awkward chuckle before they started running back towards the heat of the battle.

"No, it's okay," Gina said, chuckling as well. "I kinda liked it, actually," she admitted, looking down so Sam didn't see that she was blushing. Sam smiled before they both headed back into battle, taking out every Healer that they saw.

Meanwhile, Dale and Ester were at the back, shooting arrows and knocking Healers over with each shot they made. "Healers on your right, Ester!" Dale called out to her friend before turning to her left, shooting down a couple of Healers that were running towards them.

Ester thanked Dale before she took out the Healers coming towards Britt, Anna and Josh so they didn't have to deal with them. "Dale, there are a few headed towards Terry!"

Dale turned and saw four Healers running over towards Terry, who was standing a few feet away from them. "Terry! Look out!" Dale yelled, shooting one of the Healers down with her bow.

Terry nodded to thank Dale before she took on a couple more Healers, defeating them with ease. "We won't last much longer if we keep going the way we are," she said once she had enough time to talk. "Dale, I need you to start using the explosive arrows."

Dale reached into her quiver to get the explosive arrows, but she couldn't find any. "Shit! I think I forgot them," she said to Terry, furrowing her eyebrows and shaking her head.

"I have a few extra that you can use," Ester said, taking some out of her quiver and handing them to Dale. "Shoot straight at those fuckers," She said as she shot an arrow. It flew quickly and stuck into the ground between some Healer soldiers. She then clicked the trigger button on her bow and it exploded, sending at least fifty Healers flying into the air.

"Nice one, Ester!" Dale said, shooting one of the explosive arrows that her friend had given her. The arrow took out another fifty soldiers, creating a huge dent in the ground as well.

The battle had been going on for what seemed like forever, and things were starting to get even messier than before.

Meleike saw Ester and Dale being surrounded by Healers, so he nudged Skylar. "We have to go help them, Sky," he said, nudging the younger man's shoulder.

Skylar turned and saw that Ester and Dale were surrounded by about twenty Healers. "Yeah, they look like they could use some help."

The two guys headed over and gave Dale and Ester some relief while they shot a couple more explosive arrows. They were so busy that none of them saw an archer from the Healers step onto one of the rocks nearby. He took aim on Ester and was about to shoot before Meleike saw it. "No!" He yelled before jumping in front of her, getting shot in the chest right where his heart was.

Ester heard a body hit the ground behind her and turned to see Meleike on the ground with an arrow in his chest. "Meleike!" She cried out, dropping her bow and kneeling down beside her boyfriend.

Skylar and Dale dropped to the ground as well to help Meleike. "Shit, man," Skylar said. "Did you hit your head when you fell?" He asked, trying stop the bleeding without taking the arrow out. If he took out the arrow, Meleike would bleed to death.

Meleike shook his head in a feeble manner. "No, I didn't hit my head," he croaked out, coughing a couple times. "They have a sharp-shooter. He was going for Ester," he said, wincing in pain as he saw the blood spreading. "I can't feel my legs," he said, groaning as Ester held onto him.

"It's okay, Meleike. Everything is gonna be okay. Just take deep breaths and keep your eyes open for me, okay?" Ester said, trying not to get choked up.

"Can you two give us a moment?" Meleike said to Skylar and Dale, who quickly knew what Meleike was getting at. Skylar shook his hand and they did their secret handshake for the last time before he stood up with Dale and headed back into battle. Meleike then looked at Ester. "I want you to have something," he said, reaching into one of his pockets and pulling out a ring. "I was going to propose after this was all over, but I think my plans may have changed," he said before coughing a little more. "I want you to have it, to know that I'll always be with you."

Ester's jaw dropped and she put a hand over her mouth. "Oh my god!" She exclaimed, crying tears of both sadness and joy. "Meleike, the ring is so beautiful!" She said, tears now falling freely down her face. "I love you so much," she said, wrapping her arms around him and hugging him tightly.

"I want you to listen to me very closely, okay?" Meleike said softly as he took slow breaths. When Ester nodded, he started to speak again. "When I'm gone, I-I want you to find love again. You're allowed to love again, even after I die. I don't want you waste your life mourning me, I want you find a man who is patient and true to you. Someone who loves you for you, and someone who will make all your dreams come true." He said, tucking her hair back. "I l-love y-you so muc-ch Ester." He said, feeling his breaths get shaky.

"I love you too Meleike," Ester said as tears fell down her face almost constantly.

"Can I have a kiss before I go?" Meleike said, making Ester smile. The girl then leaned in and kissed him one last time. "Promise me you'll find someone else."

Ester shook her head. "I can't promise you that. You're my person, Meleike," she said, trying to keep her tears from falling.

"Ester, don't say that," Meleike said. "You're the most amazing woman, and you deserve to find love again. I'm not gonna be there. Please promise me, promise me that you'll find someone."

"I promise," Ester told him, her heart aching as she said those words. She didn't want to move on and find someone else, but she knew that she had to for his sake. "I love you so much, Meleike. Don't you ever forget that," she added, sniffling as tears started falling down her cheeks again.

"I love you more than anything Ester." Meleike said as he felt his last breath coming up quick. "I love you," he said before his eyes went still.

"I love you too," Ester said, closing her eyes and holding Meleike close to her. Her body trembled as she began to sob into his shirt. "Please don't leave me, please don't leave me," she muttered to herself. She held onto him a moment longer before knowing she had to let go, at least for now. Ester got up and continued to fight, instantly taking out the guy who had killed Meleike.

Terry was fending off a few Healers when she saw her daughter, Camila, and Anna fighting off some Healers as well. Terry took care of the soldiers that she was fighting and then ran over, helping Camila and Anna take down the soldiers that they were fighting.

"Thanks for the help, Mom," Camila said, smiling at Terry.

"No problem, sweetie," Terry replied, smiling back at her daughter before fighting another Healer.

Anna joined her in taking on a group of six, taking on three of the soldiers at the same time. "Shit, they're everywhere," Anna said with a chuckle as they continued. "Do you have any explosive arrows?"

Terry shook her head. "I don't have any, but Camila might," she replied shooting one Healer and neutralizing another one by punching him square in the face.

"Camila, shoot a few explosive arrows at the Healers!" Anna called out, stabbing a Healer in the back before he could get to Terry.

Camila did as Anna told her to and grabbed a couple explosive arrows, shooting one at some Healers that were running towards her. The arrow exploded and sent the Healers flying backwards, killing them instantly. The girl then shot another, knocking out at least three hundred Healer soldiers that were huddled together.

"Nice shot," Anna called out to her cousin. She then turned to Terry, when she saw a horrific sight.

Terry looked back at Anna, a blank expression on her face. Then she looked down to see the tip of a spear sticking out of her stomach. The older woman looked back up at Anna and opened her mouth to say something, but no words came out before she fell down face-first onto the ground.

Anna's eyes widened at the unimaginable terror she had just witnessed. She ran to Terry and turned her over, trying to stop the bleeding with hands. "Shit, no, no, no!" She yelled. No matter what she did, the bleeding didn't stop.

Camila saw this and rushed over to help Anna. "Mom, Mom!" She said, taking one of her mother's hands in her own. "Keep your eyes on me, okay? Keep your eyes on me."

Terry reached up with her other hand and touched Camila's face, smiling softly as well. "My beautiful baby girl," she whispered, looking into Camila's eyes. "I am so proud of you."

"You can't go, Mom, you just can't," Camila said, already crying. "I can't lose you too," she sobbed, holding her mother's head in her lap. "We need you, Mom. Carter, Gregory and I need you. Please don't go."

"I don't think I have a choice anymore, sweetie," Terry said sadly, reaching up to wipe away Camila's tears with her thumb. "I'm so proud of you and your brothers, Camila. I will always, always love you three. Remember that, and remember me."

"I will, Mom. I'll never forget you," Camila said, tucking Terry's hair away from her face and wiping the blood off of her skin. "I love you, Mom," she cried, leaning her forehead against her mother's. "I love you."

Terry maintained eye contact with her daughter as her breaths started to get shorter and infrequent. Her eyelids started to feel heavy but she did the best she could to keep them open. Her chest heaved as she took as deep of breaths as she could. "Keep talking to me, sweetie. I want your voice to be the last thing I hear."

Camila nodded quickly and then started talking. "You have always been the greatest mother I could've asked for, and I love you so much. I'll make sure to tell my children about you and how were one of the greatest heroes ever to walk the earth, and that you were my hero everyday. I love you, Mom. I love you so much."

Terry smiled as she listened to her daughter talk, taking her last breath after she heard Camila's voice say "I love you so much." The older woman's eyes then glazed over, and she lay there lifeless in her daughter's arms. Camila leaned down and kissed her mother's forehead before gently closing her eyelids so she could be at peace.

Anna too could feel stinging tears welling up in her eyes. "We have to keep fighting. We have to stop them."

"And we will," Camila said, standing up and clenching her jaw. "We will stop them. I will stop them, and I'm going to do it for my mother," she said firmly.

"Do it for your mother and father, and show them no one messes with the Kendrick family," Anna said, patting her shoulder before they got back to work.

Across the battlefield, Brittany was hiding behind some rocks, coming out of her hiding spot every so often to shoot down Healers with her crossbow. The blonde had managed to pick off a good number of soldiers before she saw something that distracted her. As she squinted her eyes to see what it was, she realized that it was a someone. A someone who she longed to battle, someone who had cause more pain to everyone here. Heinrick Francis.

She saw him slowly making his way through the battlefield, marching through battling soldiers from both sides as if they weren't even there. Her heartbeat sped up and her blood began to boil. She took out an arrow and shot it right past Heinrick's head to get his attention.

The arrow flew by Heinrick's head, narrowly missing him. The man slowly turned his head in the direction of where the arrow had come from, and he made eye contact with Brittany. A smirk appeared on his face, and he slowly began to walk towards her.

Once it was just Brittany and Heinrick, the girl took a deep breath. "The genocide you've committed against all of these innocent people ends today, Heinrick," she said, firmly gripping the hilt of a sword that she had picked up from a Healer.

"Oh really?" Heinrick replied, raising an eyebrow. "And why do you think that?" He asked in a mocking tone of voice.

"The soldiers that you have under your command only follow you because you threatened them and their families. You rule by striking fear into everyone's hearts, by making them think they don't have any other choice. Well, killing you will show them that they have a choice." Brittany said, brandishing her sword. "It will show them they've always had a choice."

"You know what I find interesting, Brittany?" Heinrick said, unfazed by the blonde's sword. "I think it's interesting that you're criticizing my way of ruling. What is there to criticize? It's effective, isn't it?"

"Placing fear in the hearts and minds of the people you rule over isn't effective. It makes you cruel, it makes you a tyrant." Brittany stated with strength in her voice. "When is it going to get through your head that fear will always end up losing as long as there are those who are willing to fight it with love and bravery?"

"And when is it going to get through your head that fear destroys hope and that you are nothing without hope?" Heinrick snapped, starting to walk towards Brittany again. "I've clearly overestimated your intelligence. I thought you'd be smart enough to at least know that by now."

"But there is still hope, and that's what you're not seeing. Even if you take us down today, there will still be hope. There will always be hope." Brittany said, knowing her words were making Heinrick angry. "Hope is what's kept me alive, and it's what's made it nearly impossible for you to kill me."

Suddenly, Heinrick began to laugh. "Nearly impossible to kill you? You think that it's nearly impossible to kill you? I assure you that it is very possible to kill you. If I wanted to, I would've already killed you by now. But I needed to keep you alive, which is why I didn't."

"Why would you need to keep me alive?" Brittany asked, raising an eyebrow. "You seemed perfectly happy killing most of my family and my late girlfriend. So why did you need me alive?"

"I kept you alive because you're strong. I knew that if I kept you alive, I would eventually be able to get you to join my side," Heinrick said, stepping forward and putting a hand on Brittany's shoulder. "All the soldiers in my army, they're not as strong as you. You would be a great asset to my army. With you on my side, I could take over the whole world."

That's when everything started to click in Brittany's head. "Everything you've done to me: killing my family, branding me, trying to wipe my girlfriend's memories away; all of those horrible things you did to me was to get me to join you?" Brittany shoved his arm off of her shoulder. "You must be dumber than I thought if you thought doing these things would make me want to join you. You can threaten me or torture me all of you want, but I will never join you."

Heinrick shook his head and chuckled. "I wasn't trying to get you to join me. I was testing you," he said. "Most people would give in easily, but you've persevered through anything. Now I know how strong you are. As for getting you to join me, I already have a way to do that, and this way will definitely bring you to my side."

Brittany already had an idea of what Heinrick was going to do. Her heart wretched at the thought, but she stood her ground, not wavering a little bit. "If I've withstood everything you've thrown my way, how do you know this will work? I told you, I'll never join you."

"Not even if the life of your precious Anna depended on it?" Heinrick asked, smirking when he caught a momentary glimpse of fear in the blonde's eyes.

Brittany took a deep breath, and then took another. "I love Anna more than anything," she said. "But no matter what you do, I will not stand by your side. I am not like your soldiers; I will not be turned by fear. They only fight for you because you threaten them and they choose to believe the threats. I won't let your threats sidetrack me, I will always be a thorn in your side. Till the day I die." She said, seeing Heinrick's anger build.

"Very well then," Heinrick said, starting to pace back and forth. "You're going to regret this, you know. You're going to regret not joining me when I kill another girlfriend of yours. And I'm thinking that I'll kill Anna the same way that I killed Hadley."

"Over my dead body," Brittany said before swinging her sword at him, clashing it with his sword.

Heinrick pushed back against Brittany's sword and then kicked her in the shin, causing her to stumble backwards. "Over your dead body," he said, moving forward and swinging his sword at her head.

Brittany managed to duck just in time, gaining her a few extra seconds to stand up and regain her footing. She blocked another advance made by Heinrick, and she slid her sword away, slicing his hand open and causing him to grunt in pain.

Josh was fighting some Healers when he saw Anna needed some help. After stabbing a Healer soldier, he ran to her side and began to help. "Hey, sis. Long time, no see."

"Yeah. Long time, no see," Anna said, kicking a soldier's ankle and causing him to fall to the ground. "What have you been up to?"

"Oh you know, the usual," Josh stated before shooting a Healer in the shoulder.

"I should've known," Anna replied, chuckling and then shooting down another Healer.

Josh was taking on so many Healers at once that he didn't notice one coming up behind him. James saw this from afar and started running after the Healer who was sneaking up on Josh. "Not my children, you fucker!" He yelled, tackling the Healer and wrestling with him.

Josh turned around and saw his father wrestling on the ground with a Healer soldier. "Dad!" He yelled, taking down the Healer he was fighting before turning to help his father.

Even though Josh and James were strong, the Healer they were fighting was stronger. Josh knocked the Healer over but soon the Healer had him pinned to the ground. The Healer took his gun out. "Any last words, pretty boy?"

The Healer had knocked James down before pinning Josh to the ground, but James was starting to stand up again. Josh watched this and then looked into the Healer's eyes. "Yeah, I do: look out."

James came up behind the Healer soldier and knocked him in the head with a rock. He then helped Josh up. "You alright, son?" He asked. Suddenly, a sword was sticking out from his stomach.

Josh's jaw dropped and he blinked a couple times, not sure if he was imagining things. Once he knew that he wasn't imagining the sword sticking out from his father's stomach, he charged towards the Healer that had stabbed him. "You monster!" He shoved the Healer to the ground and then took the sword he had used to stab James and stabbed him, killing the man instantly.

Josh then turned just in time to see his father begin to fall to the ground. He reached out his arms and caught him. "No, no, no! Shit! Anna! I need something to stop him from bleeding!" He yelled, getting his sister's attention.

Anna turned around and gasped at the sight before her. "Dad!" She yelled, dropping her gun and kneeling down beside her father. She looked around for something to use as a bandage and then decided to cut off some of the fabric of her shirt. "Here, this might help."

James coughed up some blood. "Should've seen that one coming, huh?" He said with a chuckle before coughing a little bit more.

Josh used the piece of fabric that Anna had given him to make a bandage, wrapping it around his father's wound. "It's okay, Dad. We're going to save you," Josh said, trying to reassure both his father and himself.

"Josh, Anna: tell your mom that I'm sorry," James said. "I did what I could. Josh, you need to go be with Gemma. I'm not going to risk your son growing up without a father like you did," he said, seeing the blood bleed through the fabric. "I-I'm sorry I wasn't there to help you two grow up."

"Shh, don't apologize," Anna said, trying to comfort her father. "We know you would've been there if you could've. It's not your fault that the Healers captured you."

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," James said, crying softly. "I don't think I have much longer. I love you guys so, so much."

"We love you too, Dad," Josh said, doing his best to keep the tears welling up in his eyes from falling. "You might not believe it, but you've been a great father."

"I'm sorry I pushed you away, Josh. You're going to be an amazing father," James said before coughing again. He then turned to Anna. "I'm so proud of the woman you've become, and I hope you're not still mad at me for what I did to Josh and Gemma."

Anna shook her head. "I'm not mad anymore. How could I be mad when you saved my brother's life?" She said, taking one of her father's hands and squeezing it. "Thank you for everything, Dad. I love you."

"Tell your mother I love her very much." James said as his wound continued to bleed. "Josh, I don't want you to stay out here and risk your son not having a father. I want you to go be with Gemma and your mother in the bunker. That's your last order from me."

"But Dad, I can't just leave the battle. They need me out here. I'd feel terrible if I went back to the bunker and lives were lost because I wasn't there to help," Josh protested.

"Josh, he's right," Anna said. "If any one of us should survive, it should be you. You're going to be a father soon, and Terry would want you to be in charge. We'll be alright up here; we've got them on their heels as it is. Go, it'll be alright."

Despite James and Anna's words, Josh was still hesitant. "I just don't want to leave you up here. What if you guys need my help? You won't be able to reach me if I'm down in the bunker."

"Do it, Josh. Save yourself this once. Don't you want to watch your son grow up?" James said, tears welling up in his eyes as his breath got quicker.

"I do," Josh said, running his fingers through his hair and sighing as he tried to maintain his composure. "I don't want to leave you, Dad," he said, his voice cracking with emotion.

James reached up with his hand and touched Josh's cheek. "I love you, son," he said before kissing his forehead. "I love you both very much." He then lay his head back and took his last breath, his eyes slowly closing.

"No, no, no," Josh said, running his fingers through his hair as tears began falling down his face. "This wasn't supposed to happen. He didn't deserve this."

Anna too had tears streaming down her face as her father lay there lifeless on the ground. But she knew he was right—Josh need to make his way back to the base. "Josh, you need to go," she said, crying. "Go now!"

"Be careful out here, Anna. Don't do anything stupid. Stay safe," Josh said, embracing his sister for a couple moments before turning around and running in the direction of the bunker. Josh made it back to the base safely. He ran down to the bunker and opened the door.

"Thank god," Gemma's voice came from the back of the room and she ran over to Josh, locking him in her arms as she got to him.

"My dad told me to come back to the base. He didn't want me to not be able to see our son grow up," Josh said, hugging Gemma back tightly.

"I'll have to thank him for that," Gemma said, not knowing what had just happened up on the battlefield. "Are you hurt anywhere?"

Josh shook his head. "No, I'm not. At least, I don't think so," he said, running his fingers through his hair when they pulled away from the embrace.

Joan walked over to her son and gave him a hug before examining him for any injuries. "You don't have anything more serious than a few cut bruises. Are your father and Anna alright?"

"Anna's alright," Josh said, feeling his throat tighten up. He didn't want to tell his mother that his father had died, but he knew he had to. "Dad...Dad didn't make it," he said quietly, looking down at the floor.

At first it seemed as if Joan was going to burst out in tears, but she quickly took a few deep breaths. A few tears began to fall down her cheeks, and she wrapped her arms around her son. "This is the reason why we have to destroy Heinrick."

"We will, Mom. We're going to get our revenge. Anna's fighting up there right now, and I know she'll make us proud," Josh said, hugging Joan back as he too began to cry.

His mother let him go after a moment, and Gemma then walked over to hug him, letting him cry in her arms. "Come on, let's sit down," she said, taking his hand and leading them to the cot she was resting on.

Josh sat down next to his mother and put an arm around her. "I'm sorry that I didn't save him, Mom. A Healer was sneaking up on me and he sacrificed himself so I could live."

"Darling, it's not your fault. He knew what he was doing when he went to battle this morning. Your father knew that he was going to do whatever it took to keep you and you and your sister safe, even if it meant sacrificing himself," Joan said, patting Josh's shoulder. She then wiped a couple tears and stood up. "I'm going to go check on the patients. Gemma, you keep an eye on him."

Gemma nodded and then turned to Josh, who was now holding his head in his hands. "Hey, it's okay. This isn't your fault, babe. I'm sure that you did all you could," she said, trying to reassure her boyfriend.

"I can't believe that he's gone," Josh said, trying to stay strong. His eyes were lined with tears. "He can't be gone, he just can't."

"He's not gone, not completely at least. He's still going to be with you, and I know that he's proud of the man you've become," Gemma told him.

"I miss him so much already," Josh said before laying his head in her lap and closing his eyes. "I'm just praying to God that everyone else is alright up there."

Up on the battlefield, Brittany was still fending off Heinrick's attack. She had trained for this day for so long, and it seemed to be paying off. As the two continued to fight, the blonde could tell that the man was starting to get tired. "Why don't you just give up already? You're not going to win this," she said as she blocked his sword with her own.

"You know me well enough to understand that, like you, I never give up until I conquer my task at hand," Heinrick stated, throwing a couple more swings her way. "It's a shame all these lives have to be wasted away, when killing you is enough to satisfy me."

As he was about to take another swing, Brittany yelled. "Wait! Wait! No more lives from our armies need to be taken. Call off your soldiers and I'll call off the rebels. It can be just you and me, and if you kill me, you can stay in power just like you want," Brittany said, knowing the sacrifice she was making. "But if I kill you, your reign of terror is over forever."

Heinrick stood there for a few moments as he thought about Brittany's offer. Then, a smile made its way onto his face. "Very well. I gladly accept your offer, which you will learn is a huge mistake on your part."

"I guess we'll just have to see about that," Brittany said, catching her breath before speaking again. "Call off your soldiers, and I'll do the same."

Heinrick nodded and then turned, seeing one of his soldiers not too far away. He called out and got the soldier's attention. "Round up the army and go back to the camp. I'm going to finish this on my own." He then turned back to Brittany, his smile now a smirk.

Brittany nodded at him. "Go get yourself ready, and I'll do the same. We'll meet back here in thirty minutes," she said.!Heinrick nodded in agreement before heading back to his side.

Soon, everyone who had survived the battle was called back to tend to the wounded and to count the dead. Out of the fifteen-hundred people fighting on the rebels side, only seven hundred and twenty-two were alive. Brittany was covering up some of her own scrapes with bandages to get herself ready.

Anna saw her girlfriend and walked over to her. Word had spread that Brittany was going to have a deathmatch against Heinrick, and Anna wasn't too ecstatic to hear the news. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" The brunette said, frustration in her voice. "Why on Earth did you agree to fight Heinrick in a deathmatch? Are you crazy?"

Brittany continued to patch herself up, trying to keep it together around Anna. "I'm doing it so no one else has to die because of Heinrick and his goons," she said, taking out her sword and sharpening it.

"I'm not letting you do this," Anna said, taking the sword from Brittany. "I'm not letting you go out there to fight him alone. I'm not going to lose you."

"Anna, stop," Brittany said, taking the sword back and continuing to sharpen it. "I can beat him. This is what I've been training for," she stated, putting her sword back in its sheath. "Please, don't make this harder for me than it already is."

"It's not just hard for you. It's hard for me too. I have to sit here while my girlfriend goes out and fights for her life. How do you think that makes me feel?" Anna said, looking down at the ground.

"Look at me, please," Brittany said, taking Anna's hands in her own. When Anna wouldn't look up from the ground, Brittany lifted her head by cupping her cheeks. "I'm going to fight like hell and do everything I can to beat him. No matter what happens, I'm always going to love you, and I'm always going to be with you. Always," she said as she felt tears welling up in her eyes. "But you have to let me do this. This is how we can stop him."

"I can't lose you, Britt," Anna said, looking into her girlfriend's eyes as a couple tears fell down her face. "I need you to promise me that you'll come back to me. Promise me that, and I'll let you go."

Brittany hated this because she knew that it was a promise she couldn't make. She couldn't make the promise because she didn't know if she would win the fight. Still, she nodded her head and then leaned their foreheads together just so Anna would calm down and let her go. "I promise. I promise that I'll make it back to you, Anna," she whispered.

Anna wrapped her arms around Brittany's waist and hugged her tightly. "You better come back to me, Brittany," she whispered back.

"I will, Anna. I'll always make it back to you," Brittany said before pulling away from the hug and planting a passionate kiss on her girlfriend's lips.

The kiss lasted for quite some time, neither girl wanting to let go. Eventually, Anna pulled away, knowing that Brittany's fight with Heinrick would begin soon. "Good luck out there, babe. I know you can do it. I believe in you."

"I love you," Brittany said, holding onto Anna tightly. "I love you so, so much," she said, feeling more tears prick at her eyelids.

"I love you too," Anna said, leaning in and kissing Brittany again. "I love you so much, babe. I love you more than I've ever loved anyone else. You're my world."

Lucas then walked over to the two girls, taking a deep breath before he spoke. "He's here."

Brittany looked at Lucas and nodded before turning back to Anna. "Will you two walk me there?"

"Of course," Anna and Lucas said at the same time. The three of them then began to walk towards where Brittany and Heinrick had agreed to fight their deathmatch. Anna held one of Brittany's hands in her own and squeezed it gently to reassure the blonde that everything was going to be okay.

As they got close to the spot, survivors from both sides stood and watched as Brittany made her way through towards the center. This moment was going to determine whether or not Heinrick's reign would continue or end. Brittany stood in the center of the circle, taking deep breaths to calm herself as she waited for Heinrick to join her. _You can do this, Britt. You just have to believe in yourself_. Brittany looked up and saw Heinrick walking towards the circle, and she reached for her sword, gripping its hilt tightly.

"So, this is it?" Heinrick said, twirling his sword in his hand as she walked towards the center of the circle. "Is this going to be your last day on Earth, Miss Snow? Or do you think you can kill me?" He stated confidently. "I'll kill you just like I killed your mother and father, your brother, and your precious girlfriend Hadley. You'll finally be able to join them down in hell."

Heinrick's words made Brittany's blood boil, but the blonde was able to maintain her composure. "I can kill you, and I will kill you," she stated firmly, taking her sword out of its sheath.

A devilish smile made its way onto Heinrick's face before he pointed his sword at the young girl. "Well then, let's end this once and for all shall we?"

Brittany nodded her head. "We shall," she said, holding her sword out in front of her and clenching her jaw as they moved towards each other.

 **So this is how it will end. Will Brittany defeat Heinrick and end his reign of terror? Stay tuned to find out!**


	37. Chapter 36: A Beautiful World Reborn

Chapter 36: A Beautiful World Reborn

Brittany and Heinrick circled each other, neither one of them making a move. Brittany held onto her sword tightly, holding it out in front of her in case Heinrick suddenly charged at her. Nobody made a sound—everyone was focused on the deathmatch that was about to unfold.

For a moment, the two in the middle just stood there and waited, not making any sound or movement. Brittany kept calm on both the surface and the inside. She knew panicking wouldn't help her, so she continued to just take deep breaths as she awaited Heinrick's first attack.

Then, Heinrick suddenly lunged at the blonde, swinging his sword wildly at her. Brittany managed to block his attack, pushing back against his sword with her own and causing him to stumble backwards.

As soon as Heinrick stood up again, the fighting resumed. Brittany was doing her best to defend his attacks and conserve her energy. She knew that if she was going to defeat him, she would have to choose her moments to attack wisely.

"Why aren't you fighting back?" Heinrick asked, smirking at her and swinging his sword at her again. "Oh, I know the answer to that: it's because you know you're going to lose."

All the blonde girl did was smirk. Heinrick was foolish enough to believe that she would just give herself up for him to kill her. She perried a couple more of his attacks before ducking down low and swiping his feet out from under him with a kicking movement of her left leg. Brittany then sliced part of his leg open, making the man wince out in pain before he knocked her back with his uninjured leg.

"So now you're going to start putting up a good fight, huh?" Heinrick spat, quickly swinging his sword at Brittany's head. The blade only grazed the blonde's cheek but it did leave a cut, causing her to curse in pain.

In the crowd, Anna and her friends watched in suspense as Brittany fought Heinrick. Her heart pounded in her chest, and her lungs felt like they were about to explode. This had to be one of her worst nightmares, watching her girlfriend fight to the death.

"Your time in power has made you arrogant," Brittany said, dodging one of his attacks before hitting his chest with her elbow and knocking him back. "And that's going to be your downfall."

"Your time as a rebel has made you naive. Why should I think that my downfall is coming anytime soon? And why should I think that my downfall will come at the hands of some silly girl?" Heinrick taunted.

"Because everything you did to me only made me stronger," Brittany said, sending an attack his way with her sword.

The battle between the two of them became more and more intense, each of them taking swings at each other as the fight went on. Brittany felt the sting from multiple cuts that had come from Heinrick's sword, but that didn't stop her from fighting back with power.

As the fight went on, they both began to get more tired, Heinrick more so than Brittany. The man struggled to catch his breath and was now dodging the blonde's attacks rather than blocking them with his sword.

However, the blonde girl accidently swung too hard and lost her balance, allowing Heinrick to knock her over and kick her sword out her hand. His blade went down to stab her in the chest, but she grabbed the blade and pushed up while he tried to push down.

Brittany was strong, but Heinrick was stronger. He pushed the blade down to where it was almost touching the blonde's neck. Then, Brittany kneed him in the stomach, causing him to fall over and giving her enough time to get back on her feet. She turned to grab her sword but Heinrick grabbed her leg and pulled her away from it before she could do so.

The young woman managed to get back on her feet and dodge another one of Heinrick's attacks. She tried to get to her sword, but Heinrick was swinging his sword every which way to try to hurt her. Brittany ducked left and right to avoid Heinrick's sword, occasionally glancing at her own sword to see if she could reach it. She finally got a chance to get her weapon and took it, running past Heinrick and picking up her sword. She quickly turned around and held it out in front of her with both hands on its hilt.

The man in front of her laughed, wiping some of the sweat off of his forehead. "You really do put up a good fight, but sooner or later you're going to grow exhausted, and then you'll much easier to kill." He said before swinging his sword at her, and Brittany ducked only to have him hit her in the back of the head, causing her to yell out in pain and fall to the ground.

Anna was fighting with every ounce of her being to restrain herself from running out and save Brittany. However, with each second that passed, it was getting harder and harder to do so. Everyone in their friend group stood next to Anna, making sure that she had moral support. Dale held Anna's hand while Sam rested a hand on the brunette's shoulder.

Heinrick pinned Brittany to the ground with his knees. "Give up, Snow. You're going to be with your family soon anyways," he said right as she threw him off of her to regain her balance. However, she wasn't quick enough to defend a jab from Heinrick and his sword pierced chest, right underneath her heart.

Brittany dropped to the ground, feeling her vision blur for a moment. She held her wound as she felt the blood begin to flow from her body. Heinrick then walked up to her and shook his head while laughing. "You really thought that you could kill me, didn't you?" He said with a smirk on his face. "You really thought that you could take me down. Well, you thought wrong. And you thought that I was arrogant," he said, crouching down to her level and leaning in to whisper in her ear. "Now I'm going to kill you and make your little girlfriend watch."

After he said those words, Heinrick pressed his sword against Brittany's neck. "Do you have any last words that you'd like to say to your friends? You should probably apologize for failing them along with everyone else," the man spat in a harsh voice.

The young woman felt as if she was about to drop dead then and there, but Heinrick's words made her angry. _You should probably apologize for failing them along with everyone else._ She couldn't let them all down, not after everything they'd done. Brittany looked over at Anna and felt her heart beat even faster, she wasn't going to let him win.

"Take a good last look at your hero, rebels. You put up a good fight, but now your rebellion ends," Heinrick said, raising his sword and swinging it at Brittany's neck.

All of a sudden, Brittany stopped his swing by grabbing the hilt of his sword. She mustered every bit of strength she had left and kicked him in the stomach, knocking him backwards and taking his sword away from him. She then held the sword in one hand and clutched at her wound with the other. She pointed the sword at him and took a deep breath. "This is for all people who died at your hand. This is for my family and friends that you've killed. This is for Hadley. And most of all, this is for the freedom of all the people standing here today," she said before grabbing him and stabbing him in the heart, pushing his sword as deep as she could. As she did this, the blonde saw fear in Heinrick's eyes for the first time. "I win, so go to hell, Heinrick." Brittany whispered in his ear before stepping back.

Heinrick then fell backwards, his sword still sticking out of his chest. There was now a blank expression in his eyes and blood pooled underneath his body. A moment of silence fell over everyone that was there until the rebels started cheering and high-fiving each other. "We did it! We did it!" They yelled happily, hugging each other as they celebrated their victory.

While everyone was cheering over their defeat of the tyrant, Brittany saw Anna and only Anna. Her wound continued to bleed out and her vision began to get blurry, but she could still see the love of her life standing fifty feet away from her. She dropped to her knees only to be picked up by a bunch of rebel soldiers. "Get her to Joan! She needs a lot medical attention!" Brittany passed out from the blood loss before Anna could make her way over, everything going black soon after.

Brittany didn't know how long she was unconscious for, but she figured that it must have been a considerable amount of time because she woke up in a hospital bed. The blonde was momentarily blinded by the bright light in the room, but her eyes quickly adjusted. "W-what happened?" The blonde asked, coughing a little after she finished speaking.

"Boy, am I happy to see you awake," Joan said, walking over to the girl's bedside and taking her pulse. "You've been sleeping for almost a week."

"What?" Brittany asked with a surprised voice. "I've been asleep for a week?"

"You took quite the hit when Heinrick stabbed you, but you certainly got him back," Joan said, refreshing the girl's memory. "It's all over: his reign, the Healers. It's all over thanks to your bravery."

"It's not just because of me," Brittany said, smiling softly at Joan's compliment. "I couldn't have done it without everyone else."

"You risked everything in order to ensure a safer future for everyone, Britt. While there are many heros that have risen out of this whole fiasco, you ended Heinrick's rule," Joan said, smiling at her daughter's girlfriend.

"Still, I couldn't have done it without everyone else. I didn't end Heinrick's rule. We all ended Heinrick's rule," Brittany replied, smiling back at Joan.

Joan smiled at the girl before tending to her stitched-up stab wound. "I should tell Anna you're awake. She's hardly left your side while you've slept. She just went off to get some food."

"Is she okay?" Brittany asked, her voice laced with concern. "She didn't get hurt or anything, right?"

"No, she's alright. She had a couple cuts and bruises here and there, but nothing terrible," Joan said, putting ointment on Brittany's smaller cuts.

"Can I walk?" Brittany asked, watching Joan.

"Oh, yes you can. Once I'm done tending to your wounds, I'll let you go see Anna," Joan stated as she continued to care for Brittany's battle wounds. A sudden smile appeared on the older woman's face. "Anna's very fond of you, you know. While you slept, she went on and on about all of your adventures together and how she fell for you almost instantly. It reminds me of when I told my parents about James."

Brittany blushed at Joan's words. "She really said all of those things?" The blonde asked, smiling sheepishly at her girlfriend's mother.

"Yes she did, and I've never seen her speak so passionately." Joan said, wrapping up Brittany's sword wound in a bandage.

Brittany blushed even more. "I feel the same way about her. She's the love of my life. I love her more than anything else in the world."

"You have no idea how happy it made me when my daughter told me she was in love with someone," Joan said, smiling as she spoke. "I always wanted to make sure she found someone who loved her, but I knew it would be difficult with the war going on. But then she told me about you on that night at the main base before she got her memory wiped. She told me how she'd found you, the girl she wanted to spend the rest of her life with."

Instead of blushing, happy tears welled up in Brittany's eyes. "I'm so thankful for her. After Hadley, I didn't think I would fall in love ever again. But then I met her, and she's made me so happy. I don't know what I'd do without her in my life," the blonde said.

"I think she's said the same thing about you at least twenty times," Joan said before finishing the bandage. She then handed Brittany a cane. "It may be hard to walk at first, but you're cleared. Anna's in the cafeteria. Why don't you go see her? She's been missing you a lot."

"Okay, I'll go see her. I've missed her a lot too," Brittany said, using the cane for support as she stood up from her hospital bed. Just like Joan had said, it was hard to walk at first, but having the cane made it a lot easier.

As she got to the cafeteria, people began noticing her. But it wasn't just the rebels—former Healers that had taken refuge were sitting at the tables as well. People began to clap for Brittany as she walked through the cafeteria, cheering for the girl who defeated Heinrick Francis.

Josh looked to see why everyone was standing and clapping, and then he saw Brittany. He nudged Anna, who was sipping some water. "Hey, look who's here."

Anna turned her head, and her jaw dropped when she saw who was walking through the cafeteria. "Oh my god," the brunette said, setting her cup of water down and immediately getting up to go greet her girlfriend. She brushed by the people who were clapping for Brittany, desperate to reach her girlfriend.

As soon as Anna reached Brittany, she wrapped her inside of her arms and kissed her lips in front of everyone there, making the crowd cheer even louder than before. "You're awake. You're finally awake," the brunette said when their lips parted. Tears of joy began falling down her face, but she didn't care. "I can't believe that you're finally awake."

Brittany smiled and then hugged Anna with her free hand. "I needed to see you," she whispered before connecting their lips again softly. Once the crowd's cheers died down, Brittany took a deep breath. "So, he's really gone?"

Anna nodded, a big grin on her face. "Yeah, he's really gone, and it's all thanks to you," she said.

For the first time in her life, Brittany could feel a burden being lifted off of her shoulders. Heinrick was dead and gone, and would never terrorize anyone ever again. She could now feel relieved that her family, Hadley, and everyone else who had died because of Heinrick could now rest in peace. "He's gone," she said. "He's finally gone."

"Thank you so much, Britt. If it weren't for you, Heinrick would be alive and the Healers would still be in power," Anna said, gazing into Brittany's eyes.

Brittany smiled and wiped the tears from her eyes before hugging Anna tightly in the middle of the cafeteria, just wanting to stay there for the rest of the day. It was over, it was finally over.

 **6 Months Later**

"Shit, Josh!" Anna yelled as she rushed to Josh's room. "Gemma's water broke! She's going into labor!" She said, smiling. "I'm gonna be an aunt!"

"And I'm gonna be a dad!" Josh said, quickly putting on his shoes and then running out of his room. He followed Anna down the hall towards the hospital wing, running as fast as he could.

Brittany and Dale were helping Gemma down the hallway while Sam and Gina cleared the way for her. "Everyone out of the way, she's got a baby coming!" Sam yelled, causing any stragglers in the hallway to move out of their path so they could get to the hospital wing quickly.

"Shit!" Gemma yelled out, squeezing Brittany's hand tightly as a painful contraction came and went. "Fuck, those hurt really bad."

"We're almost to the hospital," Brittany said, helping Gemma along the way.

Once they reached the hospital wing, Joan brought up a wheelchair. "We have some doctors who can deliver babies in the back. You roll her back there. But it'll be family only in the delivery room, so Josh and Sam are the only ones besides the doctors allowed in here."

"Alright, where can we wait while the baby is being born? Is there a waiting room of some sort?" Dale asked Joan.

The doctors wheeled Gemma back and Sam followed behind before Josh rushed in and ran after them, Anna close behind him. Joan then turned to Dale and everyone else who was waiting in the front of the hospital wing. "There are some chairs just outside, but it may be awhile so I'd try to keep yourselves occupied."

Dale nodded. "Thank you, Joan," she said, smiling at the older woman. "And congratulations. You're about to become a grandmother."

"It's pretty exciting, that's for sure," Joan said, smiling. "And I know James is watching over us," she added, letting a single tear fall.

In the delivery room, Gemma had just received an epidural so the pain wasn't as bad. Josh was giving her some ice chips and holding her hand, encouraging to keep strong. "You're doing so great, Gemma," he said, kissing her forehead. "Just think: we're about to be parents."

"We're about to be parents," Gemma repeated, smiling at Josh. Their moment was interrupted when Gemma experienced another painful contraction, although it didn't hurt as bad due to the epidural. "Shit. I didn't know that giving birth would be so hard," she said with a chuckle, a few beads of sweat trickling down her forehead.

Anna and Sam both looked at each other and then looked back at Gemma. "It's not that bad, is it?" Sam asked, cringing a little.

"It's not bad, it's just painful," Gemma explained. "It becomes a lot less painful when you realize that your child is about to enter the world," she added.

Josh squeezed her hand and kept telling her to breathe in and out. "You're doing amazing baby, the doctors say you only have three more centimeters before you can push." He kissed her forehead again. "Just keep breathing, babe."

Gemma did as Josh told her to and took deep breaths, scrunching up her face and squeezing his hand tightly whenever a contraction came. "Am I close to being able to push?" Gemma asked, breathing heavily.

The doctor in the room nodded, sitting down to check and see how far along she was. "It looks like you're now at nine centimeters, so that means only one more before you can push."

Gemma nodded and closed her eyes, biting down on her lip. "I can't wait to meet our son," she murmured, squeezing Josh's hand and smiling.

Josh smiled and squeezed back. _I'm gonna be a father_ , he thought to himself. "I can't wait either, Gemma," he said before giving her a couple more ice chips.

"What do you want to name him?" Gemma asked, smiling gratefully at Josh when he gave her the ice chips.

"I'm not sure," Josh said, chuckling softly as the doctor got down in front of Gemma.

"Alright, it's time to start pushing," she said before getting her gloves on. "On three, I want you start pushing. One, two, three."

Gemma started pushing when the doctor told her to, furrowing her eyebrows in concentration.

While she was pushing, Josh made sure that he was encouraging his girlfriend. "You're doing great, Gemma. Just keep pushing. You're doing so great, babe."

Anna and Sam also encouraged Gemma as she continued to push. "You can do this, Gemma. You're going to be an incredible mother. We know it," Sam said, squeezing her sister's hand.

"It hurts," Gemma said, a couple of tears streaming down her cheeks. "It hurts a lot." She cried out in pain after another long push.

"Keep pushing, Gemma," the doctor said. "I have the head and shoulders out already, so you just need to push a few more times and then your son will be here.

Gemma nodded and then closed her eyes, gritting her teeth as she pushed again. The pain she was feeling was tremendous, but she knew she had to persevere through it.

After about five more pushes, there was a small crying sound and Gemma felt her body relax. The doctor smiled at the couple and then showed them their baby. "Welcome to the world, little one," she said before going to clean him off, wrap him in a blanket and give him a hat.

After that was over, the doctor brought Josh and Gemma's son back over to them. "Here he is," She said, handing him for Gemma to take in her arms.

Gemma choked out a sob when she held her son for the first time, tears of joy falling down her face. "Hi," she said, smiling down at her little baby boy. "Hello, sweet boy. I'm your mom." She said, crying happily.

Josh felt tears well up in his eyes. "Wow. Hey there, buddy. I'm your dad, and I'm glad to finally meet you."

"We'll give you some time," said the doctor, getting the team of doctors out of the room, leaving just Anna, Sam, Josh, Gemma, and their beautiful baby boy in the room.

He had jet black hair like his father, but slightly tanned skin like his mother. He was the most gorgeous and most precious thing that Josh and Gemma had seen in their entire life.

"He's so beautiful. I didn't think I would ever see someone as beautiful as he is," Gemma said, smiling and kissing her son's forehead.

"I'm an aunt now," Anna said, walking up beside her brother and taking a look at her little nephew. "He's so tiny and adorable," she said, smiling and tearing up as well.

"So am I," Sam said, a big smile on her face and tears of joy in her eyes. "Congrats, Gemma and Josh. I'm so happy for you."

Gemma leaned forward and kissed Josh's lips gently. "We made a beautiful baby," she whispered to him with a smile on her face.

"Damn right we did," Josh said with a chuckle, smiling and kissing his girlfriend back.

"Any ideas on names?" Sam asked curiously.

"We haven't decided yet," Gemma said, smiling before letting her son hold onto her finger for the first time. "Actually, could you two give us a moment so we can decide?"

"Yeah, of course. Take all the time you need," Anna said, opening the door for Sam before closing the door behind them.

Once they were alone, Gemma turned to Josh. "So, do you have any ideas for his name?" She asked her boyfriend with a smile.

"Why don't we name him after our fathers? Tyler James has a nice ring to it, don't you think?" Josh asked, smiling at his son.

Gemma smiled and nodded her head. "Tyler James sounds great," she said, looking from Josh to her son. "Tyler James Kendrick."

"Tyler James Kendrick," Josh repeated, smiling and kissing his son's forehead. "Can I hold him?"

"Of course," Gemma said, handing Tyler over to Josh so he could hold his son for the first time.

Once the little boy was in his father's arms, Josh could help but tear up a little bit. "No matter what, I will always be around when you need me," he said, leaning down and kissing Tyler's head.

Gemma smiled as she watched the moment unfold between Josh and Tyler. "You're already such a great dad," the girl murmured, tearing up as well.

"I know my dad would've been there for me if he could've," Josh said, glancing at Gemma before looking at his sleeping son again. "I want to be there through it all for him, and I never want him to have to worry about his father not being there."

"And he won't have to worry. I know you're gonna be there for him, Josh, and he knows it too," Gemma said, putting a hand on her boyfriend's shoulder.

Josh looked into Gemma's eyes, smiling at her before wiping his tears. He then looked at the calendar on the bedside table, and a smile played at his lips. "Hey, we met a year ago today," he chuckled. "That's pretty amazing, isn't it?"

"Yeah, that is amazing," Gemma said, chuckling along with Josh. "We've come a pretty long way in the last year, haven't we? I mean, we're parents now."

"We have come pretty far," Josh said, smiling at Gemma as she lay in bed. He then had a sudden thought pop into his head. "Hey, can I run something by you?"

Gemma nodded. "Yeah, of course. What's up?" She asked.

"If I asked you to, would you marry me?" Josh asked, looking hopefully into her eyes, secretly hoping he hadn't screwed up by asking that.

"What?" Gemma asked. Josh's question had definitely surprised her, that's for sure. "Are you being serious right now?"

Josh just smiled at her and nodded, a serious look in his eyes. "I know for sure that you're the woman I want to spend the rest of my life with. I love you more than anything. After everything we've been through, I'm certain that there's no one else. It's you, Gemma. You're the one for me." He then took a deep breath and got up from the chair, getting down on one knee and using one arm to hold his son while the other took Gemma's hand.

"I know that I don't have a ring right now, but I do know that I love you, Gemma," Josh said, smiling and biting his lip before asking the question he never knew he'd get the chance to ask. "Gemma Winters, will you marry me?"

Gemma's jaw dropped and tears of joy began falling down her face for what seemed like the millionth time that day. "Yes! Yes, I will. Of course I will!" She exclaimed happily.

Even though it seemed impossible after all the good things that had happened that day, Josh's smile got even wider. He then stood up and kissed Gemma passionately. "Thank you. I love you," he whispered softly as their lips parted, leaning in and kissing her again.

"I love you too," Gemma said, smiling and leaning into the second kiss. When they pulled away, she looked down at their son. "My life is so perfect right now. I wouldn't have it any other way."

"The world has been free of Heinrick's hatred for six month now, we have a beautiful newborn son, and I just asked you to marry me. Things are finally falling into place," Josh said, smiling before kissing her lips a third time. "And we can go wherever you want to go on our honeymoon, so I'll let you choose."

"Well then, I guess I have a lot of thinking to do. I'm not sure where I want us to go for our honeymoon, but I'll make sure to pick a good place," Gemma replied with a smile.

Josh smiled and then took her hand, kissing it gently. "You know, after the battle, I went to ask for your parents' permission. I knew then, and I know now, that it's you and only you, Gemma."

Gemma smiled and then leaned in, giving Josh a quick peck on the lips. "It's always been you, Josh," she murmured softly. "It's always been you," she repeated.

Back out in the hall, Anna was talking to Brittany about seeing her nephew for the first time. "I don't know what they've decided to name him yet, but he's the cutest baby in the history of the world," she said excitedly, making Brittany laugh and smile at her excitement.

"I don't know if he's the cutest baby in the history of the world. I bet you were a pretty cute baby," Brittany replied, smiling when her comment made Anna blush.

"Well, of course I was adorable," Anna said, chuckling. "And so were you, but this baby will be the cutest of his generation."

"If you say so," Brittany said, chuckling along with her girlfriend. "Do you think he'll look more like Josh or Gemma?"

"Well, right now he looks like a mix of the two of them, but the first kid usually look like their mom," Anna said, smiling as she thought about it. "So probably Gemma."

"Hmm. That's interesting. I never knew that," Brittany said. "You learn something new every day, huh?"

"I guess you do," Anna said with a smile.

Then, a nurse came out into the waiting room. "Gemma and Josh would like all of you to come back to the room and see the little boy," he said, gesturing for all of them to make their way back to the delivery room. The nurse lead them to the room and then opened the door for them. "I would recommend that only two or three people go in at a time so that it doesn't get too crowded in there," he told them before stepping aside so they could go in.

Anna, Brittany and Sam decided to go in first to see Josh and Gemma's child. "Hey, you guys," Brittany said, smiling at the two laying on the bed with the baby. "Wow, he's absolutely precious."

"See? I told you he's the cutest baby in the history of the world," Anna said with a chuckle, playfully nudging Brittany with her elbow.

"Did you guys pick out a name?" Sam asked as the three of them walked over to bed and sat next to Josh, Gemma, and their little baby boy.

"His name is Tyler James Kendrick." Gemma said.

"You named him after dad." Sam said happily.

"Both of our fathers." Josh stated.

"Why does he have our last name though, shouldn't it be Tyler James Kendrick-Winters?" Anna asked, raising her eyebrows in confusion.

"Well, that's the other news," Josh said, getting the three girls' attention.

"There's more news?" Brittany asked.

"Babe, why don't you tell them?" Josh suggested, kissing Gemma's cheek as he held Tyler in his arms.

"Well…" Gemma said, trailing off and pausing for a few moments to create suspense. "Josh asked me to marry him, and I said yes."

At first, the three girls faces were blank, then they instantly started clapping and cheering quietly so they wouldn't wake up the baby. "This is so exciting!" Brittany said, smiling. "Congratulations, you two."

"Yeah, congratulations!" Anna said, smiling and giving hugs to both Josh and Gemma. "This is so cool. I'm so happy for you guys! Not only are you parents now, but you're getting married! This is the best day ever!"

"You know, besides the day when the devil died at the hands of your girlfriend," Sam said, chuckling at Anna's response. "I'm really happy for you guys. This is such great news."

"We're happy too. Happier than we've ever been," Josh said, smiling at his friends and then at his fiancé and son.

"Can I hold my nephew?" Anna asked hopefully, biting her lip as well. "I promise that I'll hold him correctly," she said, making Gemma and Josh chuckle.

"Okay, you can hold him. Just don't drop him, or else," Josh said, pretending to threaten his sister and then chuckling afterwards. He then gently handed Tyler over to Anna, smiling as he watched their first interaction.

Anna smiled down at her newborn nephew. "Hey, Tyler. I'm your Aunt Anna," she said, feeling tears well up in your eyes. "It's so nice to finally meet you." The little baby grabbed one of Anna's fingers and held onto it, making the brunette shed a couple tears.

"I think he already likes you," Gemma said, a big smile on her face as she watched Anna interact with Tyler.

Anna didn't look away from her nephew, smiling and blinking back tears as the little boy opened his eyes for first time since Anna, Britt and Sam got in there. "He's so perfect," she said, kissing his tiny little hand that was wrapped around her pointer finger.

"He really is," Brittany said, walking over and resting her chin on Anna's shoulder so she could look at baby Tyler.

"He has yours and Dad's hair," Anna said, chuckling. "Thick, black hair," she said, smiling down at Tyler. She then looked up at Josh and smiled. "Thank you for naming him after Dad, you two."

"It was the right thing to do. He did save Josh, after all," Gemma pointed out.

"And I was always going to name one of my children after Dad," Josh said, smiling and hugging his sister from the side.

"I bet Dad would be trying to hog Tyler from everyone else," Anna said with a chuckle.

"Oh, he definitely would be," Josh said, chuckling along with his younger sister.

After everyone got a chance to hold him, they left the room so Joan and the others could see little baby Tyler James Kendrick.

Anna and Brittany went back to their room that they now shared, laying on the bed. "I had a thought," Anna said, sitting down on the bed.

"Oh yeah? And what's that thought?" Brittany asked, sitting down on the bed as well.

"What if we went and found a place for us to live in? What if we found an actual house, and started a real life together? As much as I love this base, I don't want to be stuck here for the rest of my life," Anna said.

Brittany thought about Anna's idea for a few moments and then began nodding her head, a smile spreading across her face as well. "I'd like that. I'd really like that, actually."

"I want us to find a place where we don't have to worry, a place we can call home," Anna said, tucking a few pieces of Brittany's hair behind her ear. "We can go wherever you want to go. After everything you've done, I'm sure anywhere in the world would welcome you."

Brittany smiled and blushed. "I really don't care where we go as long as I'm with you. If I have you by my side, then I'm at home."

Anna smiled and leaned into kiss her on the lips. "That was smooth," she said, leaning Brittany back on the bed and kissing her neck and jawline softly before returning to her lips. "You know, when we're a bit older, I'm gonna ask you to marry me," she whispered.

"You are?" Brittany asked, pulling away from the kiss so she could look into Anna's eyes.

"Yeah, I am," Anna said, tucking Brittany's hair back as the girl looked up at her. "And we're going to have the peaceful life we've always dreamed of," she said, kissing Brittany's lips and running her hands along her sides. "If that's what you want too."

Brittany instantly began nodding her head. "Yes, I want that too," she said, smiling widely. She then leaned up and kissed Anna's lips softly. "I really want that," the blonde murmured.

"That's good to know," Anna said, smiling and kissing her once more. When she pulled away, she leaned their foreheads together and closed her eyes for a moment. She lifted Brittany's shirt up and gently pressed kisses along the scar from where Heinrick had stabbed her in the fight. "Does it still hurt?"

Brittany winced a little and nodded. "Yeah, it still hurts, but it's not that bad," she said.

"One day, that pain is going to cease to exist," Anna said, kissing a slow and long trail up Brittany's body before finally meeting her lips once again. "I can't even tell you how relieved I was when you walked into the cafeteria that day," she said, gazing down into Britt's eyes.

"I could see how relieved you were. You looked so happy when you saw me," Brittany said, smiling and blushing a little at the memory.

"And you sang for me that night, because my father's funeral was the next day." Anna said, recalling the memory. "You have the most beautiful voice I've ever heard."

Brittany blushed again and her smile grew. "I can say the same about you, babe. Your voice is like that of an angel."

The two girls giggled with each other before going silent. Anna's hands traveled along Brittany's waist, and her lips would occasionally press against the skin of her neck. "I'm all in, babe," Anna whispered. "I'm all in for life."

"Me too, baby. Me too," Brittany whispered back, smiling and leaning their foreheads together. "I'm all in for life."

 **So he's finally defeated, and all those taken by his hand can rest in peace. Gemma and Josh are parents now, and Brittany and Anna are making plans for the future. Things are going pretty well for everyone! Stay tuned for an epilogue.**

 **Until Next Time!**


	38. Epilogue: 10 Years Later

Epilogue: 10 Years Later

"Anna, could you get the door?" Brittany called out from the kitchen.

"Sure thing, babe. I'm on it," Anna replied, getting up from the couch and walking to the front of the house to answer the door.

Brittany then turned to the kitchen table, where her four year-old daughter was sitting. "Hadley, sweetheart, go wash your hands so you can have dinner," she said, leaning down and kissing her forehead before the little girl got up and ran off.

Anna went to the door and opened it, seeing Skylar, Dale, their seven year-old boy Titan, and their three year-old girl Harlow standing there. "Hey, you guys!" Anna said, welcoming them each with a hug. "Come on it. Josh, Gemma, Tyler, Joanna, and Peter should be here any minute now. Ester, Frederick, and Meleike Jr. are already here. Dinner's almost ready too."

"How's the baby?" Dale asked as they walked inside the house

"He's great," Anna replied, smiling. "He should be waking up from his nap pretty soon, so I'll go get him," she said before walking upstairs to her son's bedroom. The woman smiled when she saw her son fidgeting around in his crib. "Hey, Bear! Did you have a good nap, darling?"

Bear cooed when he saw his mother, which made Anna's heart melt. The baby then giggled and clapped his hands together when Anna walked over to his crib and picked him up.

Anna picked up her five month-old son and held him close, rocking him back and forth. "You look like you had a good nap, mister," she said, smiling. "Did you have a good nap, Bear?" Bear cooed again and reached out for Anna's face with his tiny little hands. "Well, now that you're awake, we're gonna go downstairs and have some dinner. Does that sound good?"

Bear clung to his mother as they went downstairs to see Josh, Gemma, Tyler, Joanna, and Peter. "Hey, you guys. You're just in time for dinner," Anna said, smiling.

"Awesome," Josh said, smiling back at his sister. He then walked over so he could see Bear. "Hey, Bear. It's your uncle Josh. Do you remember me?"

"Of course he does," Brittany said as she walked out from the kitchen and gave her brother-in-law a hug. "How was the drive?"

"It wasn't too bad. I still can't get over how nice of a place you guys have. You guys did a good job," Josh replied, hugging Brittany back.

Anna and Brittany had moved up to Maine, close to where Anna's childhood house had been. It was right on the beach and had beautiful view of the sunsets. "Thank you, Josh. We really do love it here, but yours and Gemma's place in Virginia is beautiful."

Josh smiled at these words. "Thanks. We love it down there. We definitely made the right decision by moving there," he said.

Ever since Heinrick was defeated ten years ago, the United States of America had returned to its former glory. Most buildings had been rebuilt, and countries around the world had provided aid to help make it a happy, safe place for people to live again. Joan Kendrick had served as President for the last eight years and was just about to retire from the job. She had brought peace and stability to the U.S., and, Gemma's father was going to serve as the next President after winning the election.

"I'm going to serve dinner in a few minutes, so why don't you guys go to the dining room and make yourselves comfortable?" Brittany told them.

Everyone went to the kitchen and sat at the dining table, and Anna helped Hadley into her high chair before doing the same with Bear. She then sat in her seat at the end of the table as Brittany and Ester brought out the food. "It smells great, Britt," Gemma said. "Sam and Gina should be here any minute."

Moments after Gemma said that, the doorbell rang. "I'll go get it," Anna said, getting up from the table to go answer the door. She smiled when she opened it and saw Sam and Gina standing there. "Hey, guys! You're just in time for dinner."

"Sorry we're cutting it so close. Jackson's lacrosse practice went late," Sam said with a chuckle before she, Gina, and their eight year/old son came inside.

In order for Anna and Brittany to have kids, they used Josh's sperm and Brittany carried Hadley. Then a few years later, they used Skylar's sperm and Anna carried Bear. Sam and Gina used Anna's cousin Carter's sperm for their child, Jackson, who was now eight years old. Gina was now carrying their second child, which was going to be another boy, who they decided to name Mateo after Gina's late brother.

Soon, everyone was at the table and talking about their lives and how everything was going. Today was the ten year anniversary of the day Heinrick was defeated, so they got together to both celebrate and try forget the pain that would never go away. The pain that they had gone through during Heinrick's rule, and the pain of losing their loved ones.

"I can't believe it's already the ten year anniversary of when we took down Heinrick once and for all," Josh said as they started eating dinner. "So much has happened since that day."

"Yeah, no kidding," Gina said after finishing a bite of chicken. "That was definitely a day to remember," she said, looking over at Brittany and then raising her glass of water. "Here's to freedom."

Brittany smiled back at Gina and then raised her glass of wine. "To freedom," she said.

"To freedom," said everyone in unison before they clinked glasses and sipped their drinks, continuing to eat afterwards.

Once they had finished their meals, Anna helped Brittany do the dishes while everyone else was chatting in the living room. "So, Gina, how far along are you?" Dale asked.

"Four months as of last week. It's another boy," Gina said, smiling as she looked down at her now visible baby bump. "We're going to name him Mateo."

"Awe, that's so sweet of you guys," Anna said with a smile. "I'm sure that Mateo would be proud to have his nephew named after him," she added.

"I've always loved that name, and it will be nice to name my son after Mateo," Gina said. "He planned on naming one of his own kids Mateo Jr."

"That's understandable. Mateo is an awesome name," Sam said with a smile.

After dinner everyone was in the living room hanging out. Anna looked around the room, and a smile tugged at her lips. She couldn't help but think about how lucky they were that things had turned out the way they did on that fateful day ten years ago. Anna wrapped her arm around her wife, thinking about how Brittany had changed the course of the future for everyone.

Brittany leaned her head on Anna's shoulder and sighed with content. "Having everyone here is so nice, isn't it?" She murmured softly.

"It really is," Anna said with a smile, turning to kiss the top of Brittany's head. "I wish my father could see us now," she said softly as she traced shapes on Brittany's arm.

"I know he's looking down on us from Heaven, and I know he's proud of us," Brittany replied, turning her head and giving Anna a kiss on the cheek.

Anna smiled softly at this and turned to kiss Brittany's lips. "You always brighten my day," she said once their lips parted. "And I love you for that."

Brittany smiled and blushed a little. "Thanks, babe. I can say the same thing about you."

Anna looked out towards the deck and saw Josh standing there, looking up at the night sky. She got up and went to join him, closing the door quietly. "Hey," she said, smiling as she walked up beside him.

"You know, while today is a day of celebration, I still can't help but think of it as the day we lost our father," Josh said, taking a sip of his beer.

Anna nodded her head. "Yeah, I know the feeling. I miss him a lot all the time, but I miss him even more this time of year."

"I'm very grateful for what Brittany did that day. I just wished he had lived to meet his grandchildren. I mean, Tyler, Joanna, Peter, Hadley, and Bear? They would've loved him," Josh said, smiling up at the stars.

"They definitely would've loved him. And he would've loved them too," Anna said, putting a hand on Josh's shoulder and looking up at the stars as well.

"So much has changed since that day," Josh said, chuckling for a moment. "I mean, we all have kids now. Gemma and I own a bakery down in Virginia, you've gotten into the music business, and Brittany is a successful veterinarian. Dale became a doctor like Mom, Skylar is the biggest architect in the country, and Ester's gone the political route. And we can't forget Sam and Gina, who run their own Venezuelan restaurant. Things have turned out pretty well for us."

Anna nodded her head in agreement. "Yeah, they have. A lot of bad things may have happened in the past, but I wouldn't change the way things have turned out for anything in the world." She looked back inside and saw Brittany holding Bear in her lap, and she couldn't help but smile.

"We married two great girls," Josh said, noticing that Anna was looking at her wife through the window. "We're also lucky that they agreed to marry us."

Anna chuckled at these words. "Yeah, we're pretty lucky alright. I don't know anyone else who would agree to marry either of us," she said, chuckling some more.

"Life is good," Josh said simply. He then finished his drink and leaned over to hug his sister. "I love you, sis," he said.

"I love you too, big brother. Thank you for everything that you've done for me," Anna said, smiling and hugging Josh back.

Later that night after everyone had left, Brittany and Anna were sitting on their back porch which overlooked the ocean. "I still can't believe it's been ten years," Anna said with a smile.

"Me neither. It honestly doesn't feel like it's been that long," Brittany replied, smiling and then leaning her head on Anna's shoulder.

Anna put her arm around Brittany and kissed the top of her head. "It's also been eleven and a half years since we met," she said, smiling.

"Again, it honestly doesn't feel like it's been that long," Brittany said with a chuckle, blushing a little after Anna kissed her head.

"I love you, Brittany," Anna said, smiling and pulling her wife closer. "I wouldn't trade this life I've been given for anything in the entire universe," she whispered before pulling Brittany onto her lap.

"I wouldn't trade my life for anything in the entire universe either. I have a beautiful wife and a beautiful family. It can't get better than this," Brittany murmured softly, smiling and gazing into Anna's eyes.

Anna leaned up and kissed Brittany's lips, smiling as she did so. When she pulled back, she tucked the blonde's hair behind her ear. "Would you like to slow dance with me?" She asked.

"Of course I would," Brittany replied, smiling and standing up. Anna stood up as well and then took the blonde's hand, pulling her close.

Anna then put on the song "Big Black Car" by Gregory Alan Isakov and placed one hand on Brittany's waist. The other one stayed linked with her wife's hand as they danced slowly. "I remember the first time I sang this to you."

Brittany nodded. "I remember too. That was the first time you ever sang to me, actually. And if it's even possible, I think that your voice has gotten more angelic," she said.

Anna smiled and then kissed Brittany's forehead before she started to sing for her wife, her voice soft and sweet.

"You were a phonograph, I was a kid.

I sat with an ear close just listening.

I was there when the rain tapped her way down you face.

You were a miracle I was just holding your space.

Well, time has a way of throwing it all in your face.

The past, she is haunted, the future is laced.  
Heartbreak, you know, drives a big black car.  
Swear I was in the back seat just minding my own."

Brittany smiled and listened to Anna sang, her heart beating contently. She let the girl continue on, breathing in and out slowly.

"And through the glass, the corn crows come like rain.

They won't stay, they won't stay  
For too long now.

This could be all that we know  
Of love and all.

Well, you were a dancer and I was a rag.

The song in my head, well was all that I had.  
Hope was a letter I never could send.  
Well, love was a country we couldn't defend."

When she finished the verse, Anna twirled Brittany around a few times and then pulled her close. Their lips were merely centimeters apart, and the brunette leaned her forehead against the blonde's as she sang the last part of the song.

"And through the carnival we watch them go round and round.

All we knew of home was just a sunset and some clowns.

Well you were a magazine, I was a plain jane  
Just walking the sidewalks all covered in rain.  
Love to just get into some of your stories,  
Me and all of my plain jane glory.

Just me and all of my plain jane glory."

Anna smiled and pressed a kiss to her wife's lips, holding her close. They continued to dance as the song faded away, and Anna leaned her forehead to Brittany's. "Thank you for attacking me in those woods all those years ago," she muttered softly as the song ended.

Brittany chuckled a little at Anna's words. "You're welcome, babe," she replied, leaning in and kissing her wife's lips again. "I'm all in for life," she whispered.

Anna smiled as she heard those words. She was unable to get sick of hearing them, even after eleven years. She knew that she would always love Brittany and that they would stick together whatever came their way. So, she repeated Brittany's words back to her, smiling widely and looking into her wife's eyes as she did so. "I'm all in for life."

 **Well, that's the end of this story! Stay tuned for all my other stories that I'm working on right now such as: "Always," "That's Life," "Chloe," and "You're the Reason!"**


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